Believe
by Songwind
Summary: (Ch. 9)Two hundred years after the Eternal Calm began, the direct descendant of Yuna must participate in a ceremony celebrating the defeat of Sin.. but is it really just a ceremony?
1. Default Chapter

****

Believe

By: Songwind

Disclaimer- I don't own anything related to or within the game Final Fantasy 10 or FFX-2. There, does that sound official enough for you?

Summary- Two hundred years after the Eternal Calm had come to Spira, people are celebrating by way of imitating Yuna's legendary pilgrimage in an elaborate and (more or less) realistic ceremony. However, when Yuna's direct descendant is called to play the role of her ultimate grandmother, things start to get seriously out of hand…

Author's Notes- Hello, everyone! This would be the second FFX fic I'm starting. Yay for me! ^_^ Okay, I'm going to give you a couple notes (hopefully quick ones) about this story…

(Shakes head disbelievingly) Songwind, you idiot! Why on earth are you writing a story about original characters in the FFX world? Don't you realize how hard it is to make people actually read, much less like, those characters? Well, I must ask you all to please, please give these characters a chance. Besides, if you're all good you may get a few peeks (or more) at the FFX characters. Heck, you're certainly going to hear a lot of references about them!

Next, I haven't played FFX-2 yet, so I don't know what happened in it. Therefore, I shall ask you to pretend that it never happened, at least in this fic. 

Okay, third thing… there will be other religions in this story, or at least different factions, especially since by now the majority of humanity (and Guado, and Ronsos) know about the "true face of Yevon." Please don't review just to tell me that these things didn't exist in the game- I know they didn't!

Finally, I hate to sound like a review lover but I can't read minds! If you want to let me know your opinion about this story (be it good or bad), then please click on the pretty button at the bottom of the screen. 

Thank you all very much, and please enjoy!

~*~

Chapter One- Ceremony Gone Wrong

"Rynna, are you ready _yet?" _a voice demanded. "We're gonna be late if you don't hurry!"

A young woman sat next to a window, using the glass as an impromptu mirror so she could adjust the bow on her back better. Straightening her hair slightly, she retorted, "Be patient, Darian! I'm almost ready."

"Yeah, yeah, that's what you said an hour ago," she heard him mumble. However, he did become silent.

Sighing, she reached back to scratch at a place where the bow rubbed against her shoulder blade. "Do I _have_ to wear this outfit?" she complained to her reflection. Naturally, all it did in response was mirror her exasperated expression.

Then again, there was no real need to anyone to answer her question; she already knew the answer.

Rynna ran a hand through her shoulder-length black hair, eyeing the outfit she found ridiculous. Her hair hadn't been this short in years, cut only at the insistence of her parents so she could look as much like "the greatest summoner of all time" as she could. Her top was mostly a white wrap, tied tightly together at the small of her back by a large, golden bow. She didn't wear leggings, as was her usual preference; instead, she was dressed in a dark blue skirt that went down to her ankles, with white flowers embroidered down the left side. The only reason it wasn't hampering her movements was because there was a small slit in the skirt on the right side, allowing her to walk somewhat normally. Finally, she wore tall, black boots that pinched her toes every time she tried said walking.

To add insult to injury, she had to carry around an ivory staff instead of her usual weapon of defense against possible fiend attacks (i.e. her energy channeling gun).

She frowned at the image in the window, picking up the staff. "At least you could have dressed more sensibly," she muttered. Louder, she said, "Okay, I'm coming out now!" With that, she strode to the door and opened it.

A young man with long, red hair and blue eyes looked up and smiled at her. "Finally," he drawled. "I thought you'd fallen asleep in there or something. Come on, Ry- I mean, _Lady Yuna," _he said, giving a small mock bow.

She rolled her eyes and smacked him on the head. "Save it for the ceremony, Darian, will you?"

"As you wish, my Lady."

She reached out to smack him again. He laughed and dodged.

"Come on, then. We really are going to be late if we wait any longer," Darian said. "You remember all your lines?"

"Yup. You?"

"Uh-huh. Wonder if Amie and Brand remember theirs."

"Brand doesn't _have _lines. He just has to stand around and be a typical Ronso, which shouldn't be too hard for him."

"True. Amie, then."

Rynna shrugged. "Most likely. Well, shall we head out?"

"We shall!"

The two of them left the hallway in which Darian had waited for her, and eventually left the hotel to meet the crowd of people that awaited the beginning of the ages-old ceremony. Rynna swallowed, feeling suddenly nervous as they approached the ceremonial priest and waited for the other two members of their group to show up.

Brand, of course, was almost instantly by Rynna's side the moment she approached the priest. The young Ronso was still reaching up to touch the horn on his head before giving the priest a glare.

Rynna shook her head, remembering what had happened a few days ago; before the ceremony, the priest had wanted to break the horn to make things more "realistic." Brand Ronso, who was already a bit miffed about the "stupid old Ronso outfit" he had to wear, had threatened to "break priest's face" if anyone dared to touch his horn. As Rynna understood it, only the closest of friends and family members could touch it.

Amie came a little more slowly, obviously self-conscious about the oufit _she _had to wear. Rynna felt guilt welling up within; the poor girl, a true Lulu look-alike, had been forced into this ceremony. What was worse was that Amie was very modest about her usual dress, and Lulu, according to the priests, had been far from modest where clothing was concerned. Amie was now dressed in a black dress, with numerous belts tied around her waist and legs. The neckline was so low that it seemed Amie might pop out of the dress if she made any sudden moves. Thankfully, she was allowed to wear a scarf around her neck at her own insistence.

The people of Besaid (the small town in which the ceremony began) held their breaths. The ceremony was about to begin.

"Apprentice Summoner Yuna," the priest intoned. "You are about to embark on a long, perilous journey to defeat a creature that no man or woman other than a true summoner may even touch. There is a great chance that you shall die on this pilgrimage, and an even greater one that you shall not return from your battle with Sin itself. Do you still consent to become the light of Spira?"

Rynna made the ancient prayer to Yevon, then nodded solemnly. "With all my being do I consent to this task, my duty," her voice rang out over the crowd. 

The priest nodded approvingly, and turned to the guardians. "And do you, apprentice guardians Lulu, Wakka, and…."

The dark-haired girl suddenly blanched as a great weight seemed to descend upon her shoulders, and the world suddenly became a pitch black. For a moment, she could not see nor hear a thing, and she had to fight every instinct she had to keep from screaming. A nervous knot formed in her stomach, making an unpleasant taste rise up her throat, and…

…It was gone an instant later, as though she had never felt that great fear.

"I do consent to protect my summoner, even at the cost of my life," Darian, who played Wakka, was replying.

Rynna blinked, and felt her arms and hands aching. She realized that she had been grasping the ivory staff so hard that her knuckles had turned white, and blushed slightly.

"Then the Cloister of Trials awaits you all," the priest announced. "May Yevon be with you on your journey, apprentice summoner and guardians!"

The crowd cheered as the four young men and women turned to bow or nod at them. Then, the three 'guardians' turned to watch Rynna expectantly.

"Shall we?" Darian asked, smiling.

Blinking again, Rynna regained her composure enough to reply, "We shall." With that, she turned on her heel and headed towards the old temple of Besaid, where Yuna gained her first aeon.

~*~

"I heard that the Cloister of Trials is actually gonna have a puzzle or two in it this year," Darian commented as they walked along.

"Really? I heard you just touch a wall that has the most crap painted on it and you're done," Rynna replied, sighing. "Why did I get picked to do this?"

"Same reason as me, remember?" Darian said. "Hey, it ain't my fault Wakka's my ultimate grandfather, but you don't see me complaining! Besides, we get all the free food and stuff we want while we're on this little pilgrimage!"

"Um…" Amie interjected. "Actually, I heard that you can only get what you want as long as Lady Yuna and her guardians gained it."

"Psh. Like anyone knows the details," Darian snorted. 

"Brand doesn't appreciate this conversation," the quiet Ronso said. "Brand doesn't appreciate humans' way of speaking of the past."

"Look, I have nothing against my grandmother," Rynna said as they went up the stairs and into the room. "In fact, I like the idea that there's no Sin around. I like the idea that you only run across a fiend two or three times a year! What I don't appreciate is having to do this stupid ceremony!"

"It'll only be a year of our time," Darian said. "A whole year without schooling, doing whatever we want on this… er.. pilgrimage."

"True, I do like the part about being excused from a whole year at school," Rynna admitted. 

Brand gave a soft snort, and decided to ignore the rest of the conversation as they entered the Cloister of Trials. The doors closed themselves once all of them had entered, and gave final sounding bang as they stopped.

Rynna glanced around the dimly lit area they stood in now. "Looks like a hallway."

"We're actually in the, uh, Cloister now, right?" Amie asked.

Rynna nodded slowly, looking about herself with a grudging amount of respect in her voice as she replied, "Guess so."

Actually, the place wasn't much to look at; the priests came in every year or so to cut away vines and shoo away any fiends that may have taken up residence within the ancient Cloister. Other than that, the only part of the temple regularly cared for was the general area of prayer.

__

Still, Rynna thought. _Grandmother and hundreds of others walked these halls, actually gaining magical creatures that would do their bidding at any time. _One fist clenched. _To think… man, I thought this place would look and feel as cheesy as the rest of this will be, but… it doesn't._

Indeed, the hallway held an almost ominous feel to it, as though she wasn't supposed to be standing there…

"Hey, Ryn? You with us?" Darian asked.

"Huh? Oh!" Rynna grinned. "Shall we head in and figure out this oh-so-tough puzzle they've left for us?"

Darian nodded. Amie smiled shyly, while Brand shrugged and marched off into the surrounding blackness without a further thought.

"Hey, Brand, wait for us!" With that, the group hurried off.

~*~

"Dude, how big IS this place?" Darian complained an hour later. "It's like a maze!"

Rynna nodded. "Seriously, not one symbol or stone thingy!"

"Ronso mentioned respect for elders before, did he not?" Brand asked almost smugly.

"Oh, hush you. Amie, got any ideas?"

The other girl shook her head.

"Oi." Rynna slumped against a nearby wall, ignoring the possibility of ruining the dress she wore. "Oh well. We're not supposed to come out until tomorrow, anyway. Let's take a break."

"As my lady commands," Darian replied.

Rynna smacked him, then turned to Amie and Brand. "So… Brand, I know you're from Gagazet, but where are you from, Amie? How far did they drag you?" she asked.

"Um… I'm from Luca," the girl said.

"Luca? Seriously? You get to watch all the blitzball games all year, then?!" Darian asked.

Smiling, the young woman said, "Well, my dad's an announcer for the games, so I get some cool seats…"

"Hey, we go to Luca during this pilgrimage, right? Odds are we should be allowed to hang around long enough for one game!" Darian said. "Dude, I haven't watched anything blitz related since I was twelve!" He turned eagerly to Amie. "So will you get us cool seats?"

Amie shrank back against the wall at Darian's sudden move towards her. "Well, um…"

"Relax, he's kidding," Rynna said, giving Darian a quick glare. The young man responded with a confused look. "So are you a descendant of someone? Like Lulu, since you actually look like her?"

Amie blushed. "No. Not that I know of. People just said I looked like her."

"Oh, that's cool. Well, Darian and I have lived here forever."

"Not forever," Darian said. "You came from some new village near the Moonflow when you were three."

"Oh, yeah. Right." Rynna waved a hand. "Did you manage to bring any food?"

"Nah. I got some water pills, though."

"Water pills?" Amie asked curiously.

"Yeah, newest thing." Darian pulled out something from a pocket and showed it to the group. "Take a pill when you're thirsty. Then you can suck it like a candy for hours and be totally thirst-quenched!"

"Cool," Rynna said. "We'll probably need it if this place gets any bigger." She stood up straight and stretched. "Well, I 'spose we ought to get going. Most of our time in here should be spent with you guys waiting and me in the Chamber, right?"

"Summoner praying while guardians wait outside," Brand said with a nod. "We should go, like Rynna says."

"Indeed, indeed! Follow me and you won't have any problems," Rynna declared cheerfully, twirling the staff about. "Let's go!"

~*~

"Finally, we're here!"

The group stood before a door that had nothing in the way of ancient symbols or holes nearby in the walls. The door itself had once been intricately carved, and lovingly painted and polished. Now, the paint was old and chipped away, and the only polished things in the room were the boots Rynna wore.

"Well, wish me luck," Rynna joked. She walked up to the door, and did the ancient prayer to Yevon.

"Good luck," Darian said, smiling.

"Mm," Amie added.

Brand merely nodded. 

For a moment, all was quiet. Then, Rynna heard an odd rumbling noise as the door lifted to grant her, and only her, entrance. Once again, Rynna felt a wave of respect, reverence… even fear reach out to brush against her, if only for a moment. Then, the feeling was gone, and she stepped in. The door closed behind her.

"So, uh," Darian said. "Anyone up for 'let's count the tiles on the wall'?"

~*~

Rynna looked around the room she stood in, unable to help but feel a little closed in from the smallness of it. 

The room seemed a lot newer than the hallways she and her companions had just trudged through; it seemed almost as though it had been cleaned up for today. Yet, the priests had claimed that no one had been in here except for the 'summoners' of the ceremony. Besides, the girl who'd last done this had said the place had looked older than…

…Well, what exactly it was older than, Rynna didn't feel like repeating, even to herself.

Her eyes travelled down to the floor, where a large, glass, half sphere was protecting something that glowed brightly. Her eyes widened, and she lost her breath for a moment.

"Wow," she whispered.

The glowing thing looked like a giant bird curled in on itself, resting. It glowed like embers in a fire, and it looked like the slumbering… er, bird… was actually alive.

Rynna took a breath, shaking her head. "No, it's not," she told herself. "Not alive. Just… good special effects." 

With that, she knelt before the glowing… thing… and proceeded to do the ancient prayer to Yevon.

As was expected, nothing really happened. Rynna let out a sigh of relief she hadn't noticed she was holding.

Then, she heard the faint beginnings of a song.

"Darian?" she turned around to look at the door. No, the sound wasn't coming from there… "What, a sound sphere? How would it get in here?" she wondered aloud, and turned back to the glowing bird thing.

She gaped.

A small figure stood above the glowing half-sphere, transparent, with what looked to be pyreflies floating about his head. He was dressed in blue and green robes, with his hair done longer than her hair and Darian's combined. He wore sandals, too, and had his arms crossed over his chest as he watched her.

She swallowed. "Um, hi."

"Young summoner," the being intoned quietly.

She shivered at that voice. It was smooth, and quiet, yet it filled the room more than a normal movie sphere or person should have been able to do. 

"Young summoner," he repeated. "Why hast thou interrupted mine slumber? Who art thou, to enter my chamber and disturb me so?"

She looked up and stared. "Um." Then she shook her head. _This must be part of the script you skipped over. Just play it cool, _she thought. "I am Apprentice Summoner Yuna, come to ask aid from you."

The being watched her thoughtfully for a moment. Then, he said, "You lie."

__

…What?!

"Summoner Yuna came to me two centuries ago, willing to give her life for all of Spira. She came asking for mine aid. Thou… look like her, and thou doth share her blood faintly, yet thou art not her. Once again, I ask ye- who art thou?"

"Um… I'm Rynna."

The being nodded. "I am the fayth known as Valefor. What is thy purpose for coming to me, young Rynna?"

"Er…" _This is definitely not in the script! Someone's either playing a big joke or something's gone wrong!_ she thought. 

The fayth frowned. "Why dost thou not reply?" He drew closer, peering into her eyes. Then he drew back, as though burned. "Thou art no summoner!" he accused. "Not even an apprentice!"

__

Oh, dear God… "No," she admitted. "I'm just Yuna's distant relation."

"Why art thou in my chambers?!"

"Do you raise a fuss over every girl coming in here? We've been doing this since Lady Yuna brought the eternal calm, two hundred years ago."

The being looked taken aback. "What?"

So Rynna explained quickly to the fayth- if that was, indeed, what it was- about the ceremony, the 'pilgrimage' she was to take. 

The fayth looked even more disturbed than before. "So this.. is naught more than a formality? A mere mockery of its prime?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No, not a mockery! Just a celebration. It's a way of honoring my grandmother."

"Yet, thou seemest not so honored as thou should be."

"No. I wasn't really… prepared to undertake this." She bowed her head. "Look, if you're really a fayth… weren't you all dispatched two hundred years ago, so Yevon wouldn't return?"

"Yevon? He left as pyreflies centuries ago. No." The fayth shook his head. "I have horrible news for thee, descendant of Lady Yuna."

"Wh-what is that?" she asked, blinking.

"Eternity is not truly forever. And this… eternal calm. It is not forever, either."

A chill ran down her spine. "What are you getting at?" she demanded. "Speak English!"

The fayth looked to the doorway. "Listen."

"But, what are you-"

A transparent hand reached out to touch an index finger to her lips, instantly silencing her. His eyes commanding, the fayth ordered her to listen. And Rynna did.

At first, she heard nothing but her own breathing. Then, slowly, she began to hear…

"Why are people screaming?" she whispered.

"Listen again," the fayth replied.

The chill slowly grew, entering the rest of her muscles as she tensed and listened more.

Her eyes widened as she began to register what, exactly, she was hearing from the outside world.

__

"SIN! SIN!"

"Sin?!" she asked.

The fayth looked sad. "He is not the original Sin, no. But he is a Sinspawn."

"A fiend? Why would anyone be scared over a puny little…"

"You didn't hear me. This is one of Sin's _true _spawn. A young duplicate, finally formed."

"You're… you're lying!"

"Am I?"

Suddenly someone began pounding on the door to the Chamber. "Ryn! _Ryn!" _she heard Darian scream. "Something big's attacking the village! We gotta help!"

"But the ceremony-" Amie protested.

"@#)%& the ceremony! My folks are out there! RYN?!"

Rynna looked at the fayth, who removed the finger from her lips. "Sin?" she whispered. She tried to stand, but merely stumbled and fell back against a wall.

"Yes, descendant of Lady Yuna. Sin has returned."

"Oh my God…"

~*~

People are wondering who plays Tidus and when he comes in, correct? Well, more about him and the others shall be explained next time. Until then, please lemme know what you thought! Thanks!


	2. Chapter Two

****

Believe

Chapter Two- A True Summoner

Author's Notes- Thanks everyone, for your encouraging reviews. I feel so happy that people like this that I think I'll write another chapter. Go me! ^_^ Hope you enjoy.

Where we left off- Hi, this is Rynna. Songwind asked me to do this summarizing thing for you. So here I am. (Shrug) Anyway, so I'm forced into this stupid ceremony where I play the role of my ultimate grandmother, Yuna, on her journey to create the Eternal Calm. Thing is, when I get to the Chamber of the Fayth, there's an actual fayth there! Weird, man! And to add to that, the fayth guy says a new Sin is about! Can this get any creepier?!

~*~

"Oh my God…" Rynna repeated.

"RYN!?" Darian shouted through the door. "Come on, Rynna! Answer me!" There was more pounding on the door.

Rynna decided not to hesitate any longer. Picking up the ivory staff, which she had dropped a moment ago, the young woman hurried towards the door and gave a quick bow to it, willing it to open for her.

The door remained closed.

"Huh?" She tried again.

Nothing.

The young woman turned back to the fayth, who still stood over the half-sphere where the giant bird lay, sleeping. "Let me out," she pleaded.

"Why? Thou art safe in the Chamber, young Rynna."

Rynna wasn't one to keep her temper in a fight. This was shown as she balled her hands into fists and shook them at the fayth. "I have to help my village, you moron! What do you _think? Let me out!"_

"…I see. Very well, then. It shall be so."

She blinked, letting her fists fall. "Um? What will be so?"

The fayth shook some of his long hair out of his face and nodded at her. "I shall become thy first aeon, to aid thee in thy fight against Sin's true spawn."

"Aeon? But I'm no summoner, I'm just-"

"Thou hast none of the proper training, I concur," the fayth interrupted. "But thy people cry in pain, for their weapons have no power o'er this beast. Pray allow me to help thee. Or thy village shall be gone ere the sun sets tonight."

Rynna looked helplessly at him. "But, but, I don't know a thing about summoning!" she cried.

"I shall aid thee. Wilt thou accept my offer?"

The young woman looked to the door, which Darian was still furiously pounding on. Then she made some quick guesses as to how people were dealing with a new Sin out there. Finally, she turned back to the aeon. "Okay, okay, but if I die doing this-"

"Thou shalt not. Have thy guardians aid thee in thy first steps."

"First-?!"

Rynna didn't have a chance to finish her question. Without another word, the fayth closed his eyes and lifted his hands over his head, creating a small ball of pure energy there. Then, he seemed to fade into the blue-green ball until the energy was all that was left. Rynna watched, fascinated, as it seemed to back away for a second. She didn't have enough time to scream before the energy hurled itself straight at and into her body, burrowing into her skin, blood, and bones.

She slumped to the ground, her body shrieking in protest from this sudden outside invader that was now taking residence within her mind. She twisted and twitched involuntarily, gasping for air and trying to scream.

"_Ryn?! Are you in there? Hey! Are you okay?! _Brand, Amie! Help me! She's not answering!"

She faintly heard Amie calling her name, and heard more pounding on the door.

Then, suddenly, she felt the pain begin to drain from her, feeling it make a puddle of sweat about her. Slowly, she sat up, trying to remember how to focus her eyes correctly. After a moment, she could, and thought about trying to stand and walk.

__

The village! Go!

The thought came so quickly that she didn't stop to question it. Staggering to her feet, she used the staff as a cane to help her get to the door. This time, it opened without her even glancing at it.

"Oh my God, Ryn!"

She looked up, realizing that she had suddenly fallen and that Darian had caught her. "Hey, Darian," she mumbled.

"What happened? God, you're sweating and you're shaking like you saw a ghost!"

"You could say that…" She took a deep breath, then pushed him away so she could stand on her own. Her legs were wobbly, but she could stand. "The village, Darian. Worry about your family first."

"But what-"

"We have to _go!"_ she snapped. Gathering up her skirts and ignoring how much the boots were pinching her toes, she started hurrying towards the exit.

Darian watched her go with a bemused expression on his face. Then he blinked, and ran after her. Brand and Amie weren't far behind, though Amie didn't dare go faster than a jog for fear of the dress…

~*~

"By the powers-!" Amie gasped, hugging herself.

"What _is_ that?!" Darian demanded.

"Sin's true spawn," Rynna muttered.

"What?" Darian asked.

She shook her head, and started towards it.

"Hey, where're you going?! You need your energy channeler!" Darian shouted.

She ignored him, marching towards where the village's outskirts met the sea.

"What's with her?" he complained. Glancing around, he unsheathed the ceremonial ball that was said to have been the weapon of choice for his ultimate grandfather. "All right, let's see if this thing has any power!" He raced after her.

Brand looked to Amie, who shook her head helplessly. "I know white magic," she murmured.

"That is enough," Brand assured her. "Brand knows some black. We must help, Brand thinks."

"I agree. All right then, I'll heal people!" Amie set her jaw in determination.

"One thing, though."

"What?" she asked impatiently.

Brand looked at her, as though trying to pick out the best words. "Brand thinks, that Amie should change quickly first."

The young woman blinked, then looked down at her clothing. She blushed deeply. "You might be right about that."

"Brand always right," the Ronso announced solemnly. With that, he grabbed the spear he'd been given and hurried after the others in their group. Amie recovered from her blushing and raced off to a nearby house to borrow some clothes.

~*~

Alex was late, as usual.

But this time, he had an actual excuse; the young man, who was to play Tidus, wasn't supposed to appear until that evening, when the legend was said to have entered the Cloister of Trials unauthorized to help Yuna for the first time.

Alex looked over his clothing critically. The clothing details of the man had been sketchy at best, so he knew his clothing was off. He just didn't know what to do about it. He wore a pair of dark blue shorts with numerous hidden pockets in them, and a yellow, short-sleeved shirt with a white hood on it. The damn thing was almost too short; the hem of the shirt didn't go down to his thighs, as he usually wore shirts, but barely reached his waistline. Thus, he was tugging at it almost constantly.

Deciding that the clothing was close enough, he ran a hand through his short, straw-colored hair before picking up a blue sword and its sheath, buckling it on.

That was when he first heard the screaming.

Curious, then worried, the young man went to the door of his home to see what on earth the fuss was all about.

He gaped.

Something big- no, gigantic! - was attacking from the ocean.

A ship? He squinted. No, the whole thing was alive, twisting and turning. 

__

By the powers, that can't possibly be a fiend, can it? He wondered about this worriedly as he unsheathed the sword and hurried out into the street to get a better look at things.

He swallowed hard as he gripped the sword in his hands. He was a skilled swordsman, though he wasn't sure if this sword that had been intended for the ceremony would work. He started to edge forward when he heard the screams again.

The older folk in the town were racing about in a complete and utter panic as the thing began to gather energy slowly, preparing for some attack. 

"SIN! _SIN!"_

"SIN?!" Alex demanded.

Then he saw Rynna, who was playing Yuna, approach the giant fiend.

~*~

The thing was monstrous.

That was the only way to describe it, really. Legends had said that Sin resembled a giant, deformed whale, with skin so tough that only the Final Aeon was able to break it. This… thing looked no different. 

Rynna swallowed as she tried not to look around herself. She knew that people lay, already dead, at her feet. She knew perfectly well that some of them had been ripped limb from limb, while others had simply blasted apart from some powerful magic. 

Therefore, she knew that if she looked she would go insane.

So ignoring the soft things she walked through, she locked her eyes on the powerful Sin spawn.

The thing was currently readying another blast of energy, aimed at an elderly couple and their grandchildren. The grandchildren couldn't have been older than ten, and so couldn't help their grandparents as quickly as they could have otherwise.

Anger boiled within her. _Killing people who deserve respect, killing kids who haven't even learned what exactly a weapon is yet! What a… a… monster!_

As if that thought had been spoken aloud, the creature turned from its intended targets to look at her. At least, she thought it was looking at her; she couldn't be certain, what with its millions of small, beady eyes looking in every direction at once.

__

Oh, dear sweet powers that be… it's going to kill me.

: It shall do no such thing, summoner,: a voice rang through her consciousness.

She blinked, startled. _Wh- wha…._

: Call me, Rynna. Call me, summoner!:

Swallowing, she lifted the staff to face level, looking at the ivory design on it with only a feigned sort of interest as she debated whether or not to listen to the voice. Then she decided that logic- i.e. that the fayth had been gone from this planet for two hundred years- could wait until the village was safe.

__

Okay, she responded. _How?_

: Call my name to the winds. Call for Valefor!:

And she did, twirling the staff and stepping back as though in a martial arts stance. "Valefor, come!" she shouted.

Darian, who'd just caught up to her, stopped, dropping the blitzball in surprise. "What?!" he gasped.

Glowing symbols swirled around Rynna as she took another step back, lowering her staff with one hand to tap the ground where she had stood an instant ago while simultaneously reaching her free hand up to the sky imploringly.

At first, nothing happened. The great monster before her seemed to snort in amusement, now channeling its energy to attack her.

Then…

A cry, sounding like that of a hawk on the hunt, sounded through the sky. The survivors of the Sin spawn looked up in awe as they saw what their ancestors must have seen two hundred years ago.

A red-golden bird with a large beak, horns, and a wingspan the size of a house appeared, swooping lower and lower until it landed before Rynna, watching her. Rynna gaped at the thing, not sure what to do next. She searched her mind for an answer, but she heard nothing other than her own frantic thoughts. 

"Um, hi?" she offered. "Bad guy's that way." She pointed a shaky finger at Sin.

That seemed to do the trick, however lame Rynna thought she sounded. Valefor bobbed its head once before turning and shrieking a challenge at the monster.

The giant fiend responded with a roar that was loud enough to knock many people off their feet, including Darian; however, Rynna stood her ground, gripping the staff as tightly as possible.

"Attack!" Rynna shouted.

Valefor, seeing its enemy, needed no further encouragement. It took to the air, flying towards the monster in giant, lazy-seeming circles as it gained altitude. Sin's spawn watched it with a mild interest, its many eyes circling around after the bird-aeon. 

Then, when it was a mere speck in the sky, Rynna heard a shriek from on high that sent her to her knees, hugging herself and shuddering. Valefor pulled itself to a stop, hovered for a moment, then shot down towards Sin's spawn.

The effect was astonishing, to say the least; while the monster's skin wasn't broken, it still roared with rage as Valefor's beak made a rather huge dent in its left flank. Turning, the thing shot a beam of light at the aeon.

Valefor twisted, barely making it out of the way; however, it lost a few tail feathers, and its flying became steadily worse as it attempted to regain altitude and attack again. Yet attack it did.

And this time, it broke the skin.

The howl that came from Sin's spawn wasn't terrifying; it was more. It was enough to make those standing too weak to stay up, and make those collapsed on the ground curl into a ball, seeking protection. Many closed their eyes, praying fervently to whomever and whatever they could that this was just a nightmare. Rynna could faintly hear people crying out, "Yevon!", a name that hadn't been used seriously by many in years.

Sin's spawn roared again at the aeon, then blasted another beam of light. But this time, it wasn't at the bird; it was at the village. People screamed and scrambled to their feet, attempting to run. 

Not many made it more than a foot.

The survivors screamed for their loved ones as Sin's spawn gave the village and the aeon a final glare before turning towards the sea, disappearing as though it had never been there.

Rynna watched it go, feeling sort of detached from the current situation. Then again, who wouldn't feel so at this point? 

But suddenly, it all caught up to her, and she screamed almost as loudly as Valefor had, and curled into a ball on the ground, weeping.

"Oh, God… Oh, God…" She started to tremble.

"Rynna?!" Darian ran up to her, grasping her shoulders. "Are you… all right?"

"No, I'm _not _okay! This is _not okay!" _she shrieked, burying her head in his shoulder for a moment.

"Ryn…" He hugged her for a moment. "Ryn…"

"Is she all right?" Amie asked, hurrying up. Brand was not too far behind, having been assisting some of the older folk away from the fight.

"She's not injured, if that's what you mean," Darian said, absently rubbing his friend's back. "Ryn, buddy, come on. Everything's all right now. It's gone."

"Is everything okay?" Alex asked, racing up and dropping his sword. He pulled out a potion. "Does she need healing?"

Darian looked over the girl in his arms, shaking his head. "No, I don't think so." Suddenly, his face became stricken. "Oh, God… my family!" He looked at the destroyed town and people around him, then at his friend indecisively. 

"Go," Amie said, pulling Rynna away from him. The quiet girl suddenly gained a commanding tone. "Find your family. I will tend to Rynna here."

"So will Brand," the Ronso declared. "Ronso has no family in need here. Go." He motioned towards Alex. "You too, Besaid islander."

The redhead swallowed, nodding. Then he hurried off. Alex watched him go, gave Rynna one more concerned yet wondrous stare, then followed in hot pursuit.

The survivors of the island slowly began to creep out of their hiding places; behind trees, under destroyed roofs, up from their food cellars, to see what had become of the place. While they did, the now-weakened aeon circled the air before settling before its summoner.

Rynna looked up, her face streaked with tears. "Vale…for?" she asked, wiping her eyes. 

Amie held the other girl close, looking at the aeon warily. "Will it attack us?" she asked.

"No."

"What is it?" Amie questioned.

"This…" Rynna reached out to the aeon. Valefor reached out with its beak, enough so that Rynna could awkwardly pat it once or twice. "This is Valefor. My… my aeon."

"Your _what?"_ Amie and Brand asked in unison.

"An aeon!" another voice sounded.

The trio looked behind them to see the elderly priest who had led them through the beginning of the ceremony. The man was staring, eyes wide with wonder and fear, at the aeon. Valefor, in turn, gave the priest a penetrating glare before bobbing its head in acknowledgement. With one more nuzzle at Rynna's hand, the aeon took flight once more, disappearing into the sky.

"Amazing!" the priest exclaimed. "An aeon came to aid us in our time of need. Indeed this is a thing to celebrate!" Then he frowned. "No, please forgive me. 'Tis a day for mourning, not only for us, but for the world."

"Hey!" Darian came back, looking relieved. "My parents… they're okay! They're both okay!"

"My sister is all right, too," Alex added, jogging up behind the redhead. "She was out in the woods nearby, so she didn't even really know what was going on. My mother got a head injury and my dad's leg is broken, but…" He grinned.

"Good," the Ronso said.

Darian then looked at the priest. "Father… if I may ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Was that really Sin?"

"Sin's spawn," Rynna said softly.

The group glanced at her. "What?" Darian asked. "So it's a normal fiend?"

"No… Sin, apparently, learned to reproduce itself. Clone itself, just before the end. Or the creator of Sin hid away an extra or something," Rynna explained. "The fayth… he explained it to me. That's Sin's 'true' spawn."

The group became quiet. In the background, the group could hear people wailing over lost loved ones, or happy cries of relief when people found friends or family alive.

"So Sin's back," Darian said quietly. 

"Yes." The priest nodded at Rynna. "But thanks be to our God; for the summoners have returned as well!" With that, he bowed. "Lady Summoner, it is with great honor the people of Spira shall serve you!"

Rynna's eyes widened as her friends and acquaintances looked at each other oddly, then bowed as well. People came up, curious to see the woman who had called an aeon. All too soon, all able-bodied folk were bowing and murmuring, "Lady Summoner…"

__

Oh no.. this isn't supposed to happen…

~*~


	3. Chapter Three

****

Believe

Chapter Three- Beginning of the Travels

Author's Notes- Thanks again, everyone. And to the person who mentioned Valefor is a woman, well, I'm afraid you'll all have to put up with my guessing at the genders of the fayth. You see, I have the American version, so there's no dark aeon part in the story. Sorry about that. ^^; I hope it doesn't throw you off and prevent you from reading further!

Oh, and to you who told me I should play FFX-2; I got it three days ago. I love it! I'm on level 3. (Blinks) I have 45 percent completion. Do you know if that's good or not?

Please enjoy!

Where we left off- Hey ladies and gentlemen! Mostly ladies. ^_^ This is Darian. Last time Sin's 'spawn' showed up and wreaked havoc on our village, but thankfully Rynna stopped him! Whoa, but with an aeon? So she's a _real _summoner?! Anyway, now my job's for real, and we're going to have to go on a real pilgrimage to stop this thing, apparently… hopefully it'll go well…

~*~

"Are you sure we should just up and leave like this?" Darian whispered quietly.

"You don't have to come," Rynna whispered back.

"Bull. I'm your friend and your guardian now. Of course I'm coming!" he said. "But… leaving at first light?"

Amie yawned, trying in vain to stifle it. "It makes sense, it prevents long good-byes," she commented.

"Brand approves decision," the Ronso said.

"Oi, fine! Side with the summoner, see if I care!" Darian pouted.

Alex rolled his eyes. "Do shut up."

"You first."

"Boys, boys," Rynna cautioned. "Now, I know we're supposed to go on the ship they gave us tickets for, but Kilika's only a few hours away. I think we'll be able to manage it on our own."

"I can cast Haste on the boat and us," Amie suggested as they reached the beach. "That way we'll get there even faster."

"Great, then we'll be there in time for breakfast!" Rynna turned to look at the faint sunrise on the horizon. "Come on, the priest will be waking soon."

The group made their way over to the dock, and looked at their choices. The main one, of course, was the ship they were supposed to take later on. It was two floors, obviously the biggest ship on Besaid at the moment. The others were mostly battered fishing boats, barely fit for one or two people to use at a time.

Rynna frowned, then turned to look at the others. "Okay, who here knows anything about boats or ships or docks?" she asked, exasperated.

"You live on an island, yet you have no idea?" Alex asked, obviously surprised.

"Shut up, Alex."

He grinned. "Okay, okay." He turned and squinted at the boats. "Looks like we'll have to split up into two groups."

"I'm with Ryn," Darian announced.

"Me, too," Amie murmured.

"Okay, so that leaves me and Brand in the other group, then," Alex decided.

"Uh-huh," Rynna said.

Alex carefully inspected a few of the fishing boats, and eventually chose two rowing boats that were in the best condition. "We can take most of our luggage," he told Rynna as she picked up her travelling bag. "We've got less people."

"Ronsos weigh a lot," Darian objected. "Er, no offense, Brand. I know it's all muscle and I'd rather not have you demonstrate on me."

Brand bared his teeth in the Ronso equivalent of a smile before replying, "Brand understands." He turned and climbed into his boat. Then he began to pull in his and Alex's bags nonchalantly, ignoring the boat's rocking back and forth.

Rynna carefully climbed into her seat, setting her bag underneath. Amie sat in the middle on the bottom of the boat, curling up to catch up on some sleep. Darian finally entered, taking his place and paddles in stride.

"Amie?" Rynna asked. "Wait a sec 'fore you go to sleep, okay?"

"Hmm?" she murmured.

"Cast Haste on me, Darian and the boat. Please?"

"Oh, right…" Amie lifted a hand, gesturing.

A moment later, Rynna found it near impossible to stop fidgeting in her seat. "Thanks," she said through gritted teeth. "And on the other boat, too."

Amie did as told, then used Rynna's bag as a pillow, falling asleep instantly.

Rynna smiled. "She's not very energetic, is she?"

"Nope, but I am," Darian said. He grinned at Alex. "Race you to Kilika!"

"You're on!" 

With that, the two boats pulled out of the dock, taking off.

"Er… Darian?" Rynna asked.

"What?"

She pulled out her map and waved it at him. "Don't you need to know which way Kilika is first?"

He paused. "Oh. Right."

"Of course I'm right."

"Just shut up and show me the map."

~*~

"Uh, Ryn?"

"What?"

"I think we're lost."

"…."

"Hey, it's not my fault! Honest!"

"Why didn't you just follow Brand and Alex?"

"I thought they were following us!"

"Oh, dear," Amie murmured.

It was now well past midday, and Kilika was still nowhere in sight. Nor were the other guardians in the group; Rynna had lost sight of them and assumed they were just too far ahead. Now, the trio sat in the midst of the sea, without a clue as to where to go.

"Okay, okay, don't panic," Rynna said, pulling out her map. "Let's see… It's afternoon, right?"

"What a genius," Darian remarked.

"Do you want to shut up now?"

"Not particularly, no."

"Amie, kick him."

"Okay, don't get excited." He folded his arms across his chest and looked at the sky. "The sun rises in the east, right? So it should be west by now…"

"Okay, and we were headed…" Rynna considered the map. "Kilika's sort of north of Besaid, right?"

"Give or take, yeah."

"Okay. Then there's the mainland. I think if we keep heading north, then we'll run into land eventually. Then we can head to Kilika and reunite with the others. I may even pick up an aeon or two on the way, right?"

"Maybe…" Darian still looked dubious. He looked away for a moment. Then his eyes widened.

"It's my turn to row, so let's… um…" Rynna frowned at her friend. "Darian, what are you looking at?"

Darian didn't answer. 

But an odd, rumbling noise behind Rynna did.

Slowly, she turned. 

"Gaah! Fiend!" she shouted, pointing at it. It snarled in response, nearly biting her finger off. With a yelp, she pulled back from the edge of the boat.

"Very good, now let's GO!" Darian shouted.

Without question, Amie cast Haste on Darian, who began to row like crazy away from the monster. Rynna pulled out her favorite weapon, a gun that channeled one's own energy and used it for bullets, and began to fire upon the water fiend.

"Darian! It's following us!" she shouted.

"I noticed!" he panted.

"Amie, cast Haste or something on me, will you?!" Rynna said.

Amie shook her head. "This will work better." She quickly cast Slow.

The fiend slowed, giving the boat more headway. Then it gave up, and disappeared back into the water.

Darian continued to row like a madman for a few more minutes, then collapsed on his seat, nearly letting the paddles drift off on their own. Seeing this, Amie pulled him into the bottom of the boat, cast Cure on him, and took his place at the oars. She took them in hand gingerly, shaking her long braid out of her face. "I think he should rest," she said. "Haste makes you go faster, but it also drains your energy to do it."

Rynna looked at her friend worriedly, then set her energy gun in her lap and nodded. "Yeah." Then she looked around. "Aw, man, now where are we?"

"Actually, I think we're approaching land of some sort," Amie noted, pointing at some nearby driftwood. "Do you think Darian went north as we escaped that fiend?"

"Maybe," Rynna said, shrugging. "Man, other than… Sin, I've never been so close to a fiend before. It's always been twenty feet away when I killed it. It was only like two feet away back there!" She shuddered. "That was_ not _fun. Can we not do that again?"

Amie smiled. "I wish." She squinted into the distance, then began to row towards the area where the driftwood had come from. 

The trio was silent as they slowly reached the land Amie had spotted. At one point, the girls switched places so Rynna could take a second shift. Fortunately, they didn't have to run from any more fiends, though they did spot one or two in the waters around them. 

After a while, they ran into more driftwood and old stone pillars in the water, and they could see that a large stone building was not too far off in the distance. 

"Thank goodness," Rynna breathed. "I thought we'd never get to land by sunset!" She glanced meaningfully at the setting sun.

"Yes, we'll have enough time to get in shelter and make a fire, I think," Amie replied.

"Thank the powers that be we brought our stuff with us," Rynna said. "I've got some bread from last night and cold chicken."

"That's something," Amie noted.

They finally reached a set of stone steps, and Amie reached out to grab onto one of the stones. "Okay, get out," Amie said.

Rynna nudged Darian awake with her foot, then looked at Amie uncertainly. "Are you sure? I think I should hold on too and get Darian out first."

"Hey, I've got better balance than you," the redhead protested sleepily, catching the end of the conversation. "Get out now, Amie will follow, and then me."

Rynna sighed. "Fine, just don't lose the boat or your balance." She looked around. "Stone's not a great conductor of heat, you know."

"Yeah, yeah."

Rynna climbed out, followed by a protesting Amie and Darian. The last got out some rope and tied one end to the boat, and another end to a sturdy stone sticking out of the steps, going so far as to partially pull said fishing boat out of the water. Finally, satisfied, Darian turned to observe his surroundings.

"This place looks so old and run down," he said.

"Yeah," Rynna said.

"It looks like a temple of some sort," Amie said softly. The other two looked at her, and she blushed. "It's just… well, look. It kind of resembles the dome on your temple, doesn't it?" she asked, pointing at it.

Rynna squinted. "I can't really see the similarities, but you might be right," she conceded. "There's a legend of an unknown, abused aeon that was trapped in an ancient, secret temple. Maybe we found it?"

"If so, you'll get an aeon no one's seen in centuries!" Darian said, grinning.

Rynna raised an eyebrow. "Darian, no one's seen a single aeon _period _for two hundred years. I don't think anyone will be able to tell the difference."

He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Oh."

"Still, you're right," she said. "It would be neat to have a rare aeon, if you get my meaning." She laughed. "Listen to me, talking about aeons. Three days ago I would think I sound like an idiot."

"Yeah…" Darian's grin faded. "I know."

The group stood awkwardly on the steps for a moment. Then, Rynna said, "The sun's almost down. Let's get inside and make camp. We'll go exploring tomorrow."

"Aye, aye, summoner," Darian said, saluting.

Amie giggled into her hand as Rynna marched up towards a set of doors. Then the guardians followed their summoner.

Rynna frowned when she reached the doors and tested their strength. "I think it's locked," she said.

"No way," Darian groaned. "Typical."

"Does it have any switches, maybe?" Amie suggested.

"Don't think so- hey! Maybe…"

Rynna gave the door a bow, and waited.

Nothing happened.

"Well, damn," she said, disappointed. "Should we look for another way in?"

"Maybe we're better off out here," Darian said. "There may be more fiends in there. You never know, since it looks like it's been abandoned for so long… it's amazing it's still standing."

"You _want _to freeze your ass off out here?"

"We can make a fire, like we planned," Darian said. 

Rynna frowned, but nodded. "Fine. We'll try to take a look inside tomorrow, too," she said. "Hey, Amie, are there any protection spells you can cast for us?"

Amie considered it. Then, she slowly shook her head. "I can cast Protect on each of us, but I can't really project it around all of us like a wall," she said. 

"Hmm. Hey, maybe we can make a circle of stones, and you could cast Protect on them?" Darian said.

Amie shook her head. "It would only be cast on the separate stones."

"Darn." 

"We'll have to take watches," Rynna decided. "We are in the wilderness, after all. Building or no friggin' building."

"I'll take first," Darian said. "I slept half the day."

"I'll take second," Amie said.

"Okay, I'll take third," Rynna said. She winked at Darian. "I don't mind getting up early anyway."

"Getting up before midday is against my religion," he protested.

"Yeah, I noticed that this morning. Let's get a fire going," Rynna said.

The trio soon settled down, huddling under part of the roof where it extended slightly out, towards the water. They spread out blankets in a fairly dry area, and made a fire out of materials they themselves had brought. Time passed; the fire was crackling in minutes, and dinner was eaten quickly. 

Rynna paused at one point when she heard a nearby splashing noise. "Hey, what do you think that was?" she asked Darian.

"What what was?" he asked.

"That splash."

"Splash? Didn't hear anything… but it might be a fiend." He gently blew on the fire to keep it going. "I'll keep an eye out."

Rynna nodded and continued to eat.

~*~

__

Huh? Where am I?

Lots of water. A fading sun in the distance. 

__

Ack, seawater. I hate swallowing seawater.

Stone nearby. Lots of stone. Surprisingly, there were very few fiends, and many were weak. 

__

Wait, how do I know that?

It wasn't knowledge from a lot of observation- rather, it was just a feeling.

__

Ah, hell. I'll think about it when I get some air.

~*~

__

Splash!

Rynna started, then turned towards the nearby steps. "There it was again," she whispered, pulling out her gun.

Darian pulled out his blitzball. "I heard it, too," he replied.

"Mm," Amie said, nodding. "I wonder… is that a fiend? I hope it's not… well, you know who I mean," she said, swallowing a little at the thought of Sin showing up. 

"I hope not, too," Darian said.

The group listened to another series of splashes. Then they blinked at the sound of muttered curses from the water.

"Can fiends talk now?" Darian whispered incredulously.

Rynna shook her head slightly. "Dunno….."

They heard more mutterings about something having to do with seawater and sunlight. Then, they saw a figure come towards the steps. Rynna's grip tightened on her gun.

"That looks _human!" _Rynna whispered.

The figure started, pulling a sword seemingly out of nowhere. "Who's there?" a voice demanded. "Show yourself!"

"You first, buddy," Darian called. "We're the ones with the fire. You come over here nice and slow, and no one gets hurt."

They heard a muttered, "Yeah, right." Then, louder, the figure said, "Okay, I'm coming. Don't get too excited."

The group waited as the figure stepped out from the shadows and edged its way into the firelight. Rynna realized immediately that it was a young male, perhaps her age, maybe a bit older. He had oddly tended hair, short and sticking out slightly at the edges. His clothing somewhat resembled Alex's ceremony outfit, actually…

The young man, she realized, had been staring at her with the same intensity and bewilderment. 

"Who are you?" Darian asked.

The young man ignored him, staring at Rynna. She scooted back slightly when he took a step forward.

"Y…" He swallowed. "Yuna?" he whispered. "Is that you?"

__

What the hell…?!

~*~


	4. Chapter Four

****

Believe

Chapter Four- To Believe in a Dream

Where we left off- Um, this is Amie. Last time we set off for Kilika, only to have myself, Rynna and Darian lost in what seems to be an abandoned temple. Even odder was when a young man appeared from the surrounding waters and asked Rynna if she was Yuna. Who is this person?

~*~

"Yuna, is that you?"

Rynna's eyes widened at the young man's question. "W-what?" she stammered. "What claim do you have to using that name?" 

"Huh…?" He blinked, and looked at her more closely.

The young woman knew what he was seeing wasn't particularly impressive. Just a young woman with short brown hair, odd, mismatched eyes (one green and one blue), and a pair of blue leggings with a flower imprint on one side and a white short sleeved shirt. A darker blue sash around the waist finished the outfit, with her energy gun hanging on the sash.

He frowned. "Sorry. I thought you were someone else," he said. 

"Obviously," Darian said. 

The young man looked at the redhead, now even more confused. "What… you look like someone I know too!" he said. Then he saw Amie. "And…" His eyes became even wider.

Amie blushed and looked away. "Hello," she said quietly.

"What's going on?!" the young man demanded. "Who are you people? Why do you look like Yuna, and Lulu, and…" he trailed off, waving his arms.

"How would you know what High Summoner Yuna or Guardian Lulu looked like?" Rynna asked curiously.

"I'm one of Yuna's guardians!"

__

"What?" the group demanded.

He blinked, then became quiet. "Did… I say something weird?"

Rynna stood up, keeping one hand on her gun. "Yes, you did. Yuna….. has not been alive for over a century. She brought the Eternal Calm two hundred years ago."

The young man stared at her. Then he looked helplessly at Darian, who nodded. Then he finally turned to Amie, who was watching him sympathetically. He backed away, leaning against a nearby stone pillar. "Two… hundred years?" he asked weakly.

"Yes. Well, actually, the exact year is 204 EC."

"EC?"

"During the Eternal Calm."

"My… my God… this can't be true. I couldn't have been gone that long! I was only out for a year or two, maybe ten at the most!" the man said, closing his eyes tightly. His fists clenched, then relaxed. "This can't be…"

"Who are you, anyway?" Rynna asked. "You look kinda like someone I know…" She blinked. "You look like Alex in his ceremonial outfit!" she exclaimed.

"Hey, you know, you're right," Darian said, looking at the young man more closely. "What's your name?"

The young man didn't even twitch at the questions. He merely answered, "My name's Tidus. I am, or was, Yuna's guardian."

~*~

Tidus slowly opened one eye to examine the group's reactions to his claim. The girl who looked like Yuna was gaping openly at him, while the guy with red hair blinked, and frowned. The dead ringer for Lulu stared at him, only letting her eyes widen to show her surprise.

"You can't be, you died two hundred years ago," the Yuna look-alike said. 

"No, just faded," he said. "Which is a lot worse than dying, by the way. If you have to pick one or the other, pick dying. Fading really sucks."

The girl frowned. "Faded? But I would know! I know my family's history, and the legends and history books all say you died in the battle for Sin! You and Lord Auron took deadly blows and-"

"Auron?" Tidus laughed wryly. "He was dead to begin with. He was an Unsent, like Seymour. Only he preferred the living to stay alive, at least until their time came naturally." He held out his hands to inspect them. "As for whether or not I'm alive…" He frowned slightly, then looked at Rynna. "See if I'm real or not."

"What?"

"If you can walk through me, then I'm really not back. But… I have a feeling I'm solid again."

Rynna frowned. "Solid? What, are you saying you could be a ghost? Make up your mind!"

"Will you just try to grab my arm or something?" he snapped back. 

She blinked in surprise. Then she took a deep breath, and murmured, "Okay." 

Darian stood up as well when Rynna rose and walked towards the former guardian. "Hey! Hey! What if he-"

"I think I can protect myself, Dar," Rynna said. "Don't worry." Then she turned her face towards Tidus', if that was really who it was.

The legends stated that Sir Tidus had had clear, determined blue eyes that seemed to pierce through all falsities. While she wasn't sure if this man could tell if she were to lie or not, she was startled by how intent their gaze was. The stories also mentioned that he had claimed to come from a land, known as…

"Zanarkand," he finished for her.

"What?!" she asked, startled.

"You said some story or other said I 'claimed' to be from Zanarkand. It's not just a claim, by the way, but true," he said almost casually. "About… how long is it now? According to you, I was there about twelve hundred years ago. I was the star of the blitz team known as the Zanarkand Abes. Do you believe me now?"

She swallowed, then said quietly, "Well, I'm not doubting you quite as much as I was two minutes ago."

Tidus closed his eyes. "I guess that'll have to do for now." Then he looked at her pleadingly. "Please, just see if I'm solid. I don't want to feel so transparent anymore," he said.

Rynna looked up at him, feeling sympathy overwhelm her. Then, she lifted a hand to his face, gently beginning to trace the line of his jaw, then his cheek, and nose.

The blonde closed his eyes once more, and grabbed her hand to push roughly against one cheek. "Dear God, I'm so relieved," he murmured. 

The two stood there for a moment. Then Rynna began to get impatient. "Hello?"

Tidus ignored her. "It's been so long…"

"Can I have my hand back? Hello?!"

Still, the man ignored the summoner.

Rynna pulled her free hand back, formed it into a fist, and gave Tidus a punch in the nose.

"OW!" Tidus fell back onto the ground, holding his nose. "What was that for?!" 

Rynna tossed her hair. "You don't go grabbing someone without permission," she said, and turned back towards the others. Darian looked mildly amused, while Amie looked confused about the whole thing. "Well then." She plopped back onto the ground, and gestured towards the man. "Join us, won't you?"

The blonde blinked, pinching his nose just in case it was bleeding. "Huh?"

"If you're really who I think you are…" She smiled sweetly. "Then it would be rude to not help one's elders, ne?"

"Oh. Uh. Okay… Thanks." He scooted over to where the others were. "I didn't catch your names…"

"I'm Rynna, a summoner," the young woman said, pointing at herself. "These are two of my guardians, Amie and Darian."

"Yo," Darian said, waving.

Amie merely nodded once, smiling slightly.

Tidus scratched the back of his head. "Um… hey, I don't wanna be a moocher or anything, but do you have anything to eat? It's been a couple centuries, y'know," he said with a forced laugh.

"Sure." Rynna pulled out some dried fruits and tossed them to him. "Say, Tidus… I have another question to ask you. If you can tell us, and tell us correctly, then I'll believe you, okay?"

"Sure thing," he said, picking up one of the fruits. He looked at it oddly, then took a bite. His eyes lit up and he crammed the whole thing into his mouth before moving onto the next. "Shoot."

"Okay, there are two parts to this question- where are we and is there a fayth here?"

Tidus blinked, his mouth filled with the fruits. Rynna rolled her eyes as he nearly choked on them all before managing to swallow the lot of them. Taking a deep breath, he said, "Well, by the looks of this place, I'd guess this is Baaj Temple. Somewhere to the north of Besaid, right?"

Rynna nodded. "It is to the north somewhere, though we're not sure. It's pretty much been an uncharted area for the past few years."

"Makes sense. The place does have a fayth, or it did when….. y'know…" He sat back, staring up at the walls with an unreadable expression.

"So…?" Darian said. "Don't make me hit you with a blitzball, bud. Talk!"

Tidus gave him a wry grin. "Yeesh, people these days." He stretched. "Well, the fayth was supposed to be majorly powerful- you ever heard of Maester Seymour? The bast- I mean, the guy who tried to marry Yuna?"

Amie nodded. "We did."

"Good. Well, he had this one aeon he used for fighting, um… I think it was called Anima. Anyways, it was said that this was the place where he got that fayth, or at least where it could be found." He shook his head and spread his hands helplessly.

"But….?" 

"But we couldn't find it. We had to fight these incredibly powerful fiends, first off, to get there. We nearly got killed by this giant, fish-eating fiend… and then we were busy trying to solve this puzzle, and coming up against dead ends… Finally, Yuna said she couldn't feel the fayth anymore, we'd gone so far off track. We gave up, made for the first path skywards, and got outta here."

Rynna sighed. "So much for getting the fiend here." 

"So do you believe me now?"

The young woman considered it. "Well, I dunno. I like to think I'm good at seeing how people are. And you don't seem to be a liar type." She looked at Darian. "Right?" The redhead shrugged and nodded. "So I guess that's a yes."

"Great. I hate being looked at so suspiciously." He grinned. 

"Okay, so instead of going after the fayth, we look for the others tomorrow," Darian guessed. 

"Yeah," Rynna said. At Tidus' questioning look, she said, "Brand and Alex. They're also my guardians, but we got separated in a storm on the way here."

"Oh."

"Let's settle in then," Amie suggested. "I'm guessing we will prefer an early start."

"Um… could I go with you all?" Tidus asked.

Rynna snorted. "Please. Duh, you're coming with us. You're Tidus, Lord Guardian of the High Summoner Yuna. Why wouldn't we want you? If nothing else, you'll be a kickass help with the fiends that'll no doubt be multiplying like monkeys, not to mention a fairly good guide through Spira for those of us who don't really know where the hell we're going."

He smiled. "Thanks. It would suck having to wait here until someone else showed up." He stretched once more before leaning against a nearby pillar of stone. "So…."

"Do we have to get up early again?" Darian complained. "I was good today, but…. Two days in a row?"

"Oh, come on, be a sport!" Rynna said, nudging him. "I wanna show off my grandpa to everyone else. What'll Brand think, eh?"

"Grand- …. Wait a second. Grandpa?!" Tidus asked, eyes widening in alarm.

"Yeah, didn't you know? Yuna had a kid eight months after she defeated Sin, but never got married. The kid looked like you, and Yuna's my grandma." Rynna shrugged, pretending not to notice the wild look in Tidus' eyes. "Speaking of which, would you prefer being called Papa, Grandfather, or plain old Gramps?"

Tidus just stared.

~*~

Next time: We take a look at what Brand and Alex are doing, as well as a peek at what some of the religious factions in Spira are currently like. Please let me know what you think! In advance, I'd like to say something- I realize Tidus is off. C'mon, he just woke up to learn that it's been two hundred years since he last saw the love of his life. I'd be a bit out of it, too, wouldn't you? Until next time, everyone….


	5. Chapter Five

****

Believe

Chapter Five- On to Kilika

Author's Notes- Someone asked me how Yuna could be 'merely' a grandmother if it's been over two hundred years since Yuna defeated Sin. Let me clear this up- yes, I'm aware that unless she lived a VERY long and fertile life (cough, cough) she couldn't be a 'mere' grandmother to Rynna. She's more than a 'great grandmother', too. It's just that Rynna likes to use shortcuts sometimes and just calls Yuna her grandmother. Sometimes it can be confusing going, "My great, great, great, great… wait, how many greats is that…?" So yeah. ^_^ I think I refer to Yuna as Rynna's 'ultimate grandmother' at one point. That's as specific as I am gonna get. 

To someone else, who mentioned how to find out what gender the Aeons are… (Blinks) (Grins sheepishly) Oops. Well, at least I won't mess up on the later aeons, right? Thanks! 

And now, a personal note… (Begins to rant) Ninety-eight percent! NINETY-EIGHT @#$^-ING PERCENT! GRR! DIE! (Beats on FFX-2) I WANNA SEE MORE, DAMN IT! MORE, I SAY! (Sighs) Oh well… at least I won, ne? ^_^

Back to the story before I scare you all off… enjoy!

~*~

"Looks like we made it," Alex observed.

Brand's ears twitched slightly at his companion speaking. Then he nodded. "Yes. And safely."

"Yeah." The blonde looked around at the docks, bemused at what he saw. "Hasn't changed much since I last was here."

Kilika Port had slowly grown until it became the largest harbor in Spira. Though Luca still had the most enticing entertainment of the time period, this formerly quiet village was considered the best place for business, especially when it involved a lot of shipping cargo about. People of all races and ages bustled about the town, each with their own levels of urgency or self-importance evident in their expressions. Merchants, too, had set up permanent shops in the heart of town, selling their lowest quality goods at the highest prices possible.

Brand's ears lay back against his head. "Busy."

"Never been to Kilika before?" Alex looked at him sympathetically. "No problem. I know a good inn near the docks so we can keep an eye on them for when Rynna and the others decide to show up."

At this, the Ronso nodded. "Guardians look stupid without their summoner," he said.

Alex grinned. "Got that right."

With that, the two climbed out of the small fishing boat and onto the beach, in one of the few spots where people could land for free. A merchant on a larger ship who had been vying for the spot cursed heartily at them, shaking his fist. Alex smiled and waved, making the merchant's face turn an interesting shade of red before he turned, sputtering, to his men and told them to find another spot.

The two made their way into the town. Alex pushed roughly through the crowd, cutting his way through with a practiced ease. His Ronso companion, standing at roughly seven feet, was intimidating enough for most people to open a path for him, and he followed Alex with his nose and ears at attention.

After about five minutes of wading through the multitudes of people, Alex suddenly cursed and pulled the Ronso to one side. Well, he tried to pull him; Brand merely followed to humor the human. "What?" Brand questioned.

"There are some people here I'd really rather not run into again," Alex explained.

Brand blinked. "Who?"

"One of those groups-"

"The Clerics of Braska," a voice smoothly interjected. 

Alex inwardly moaned, and the Ronso turned curiously to see whom it was that had his companion so eager to leave this place and enter the inn.

A man in his forties stood with a small group of younger people, mostly humans. He was dressed in silken white robes with a hood, and violet embroidering on the hems. His followers wore white robes as well, though theirs seemed to be made of coarser materials, and didn't have any embroidery to speak of. 

The man gave Brand a polite, yet cool, glance before returning his gaze to Alex. "We were hoping you and your friends would join us at our next meeting, but you seemed to have run off," he said.

"We had… urgent business, Master Theon," Alex muttered.

"Indeed…? And travelling with a… Ronso… is your idea of urgent business?"

Alex frowned. "I don't like that tone, friend. If you want to know, I had to prepare for the ceremony of Lady Yuna's pilgrimage."

"Oh? You are participating in this ceremony?"

Alex and Brand nodded.

"Then where, pray tell, is our lovely lady summoner? I have not seen her grace the docks with her presence as of yet."

"We…. We…" Alex floundered for a moment before saying, "We came ahead because of a storm. The other guardians are with her, and they will show up soon." _I hope, _he mentally added.

"Ah." The man nodded. "I look forward to meeting with this young woman. I hear she is a direct descendant of our great High Summoner." He paused, as though readying to say more, before growling and clamping one hand to his side. "Guard your purses!"

Brand blinked in confusion as Alex looked around and followed Theon's example. Then his ears flattened against his skull at the sound of a machine approaching. He looked around, and saw a two-hover screech to a halt not five feet away from him.

Two-hovers were simply what their name implied- they greatly resembled the large, clunky machina of old, only they were small enough to ride on a road without taking up all the space. Two people could ride on it at once, though if a third person was particularly small, three could most likely ride on it as well. The rider in front would steer, as the one in back would determine the machine's speed by way of pushing his or her feet upon pedals.

As it was, two young women were on the two-hover. They seemed harmless enough at first glance- the only threat being to young, impressionable men, as the two were rather scantily clad. At a closer look, however, Brand noted that each carried two daggers- one hidden in a sleeve, and one in a sheath by their hip. 

"Like what you see?" the one in front asked Brand, smirking.

The Ronso merely blinked, before looking to see what his companion made of this turn of events. Alex had a pained expression on his face, while Theon appeared nonplussed about the girls' arrival.

"Swipers," he said shortly.

"Geezer," the one in back replied, attempting to match his deep, scornful tone. Then she laughed. "I see you're trying to win new converts to your… ah… group."

"I see you're prostituting yourselves, as can be expected from the Swipers," Theon retorted.

"That's Guild of Acquirees," the girl in front corrected. "It's not that hard to remember, Theon- even for a Geezer like you."

Theon's eyes narrowed. "Mind your tongue in front of your elders."

"Yeah, you sure are old, aren't you?" she replied. She turned to Alex and winked. "Hey, if you want a really good time, come by the Guild's office here in Kilika. Fun does a body good, y'know."

"I'll remember that." Alex continued to look highly strained at all of this, and he acted upon his feelings by grabbing Brand's arm. "Whew, man am I bushed. Let's find that inn, Brand. NOW." He proceeded to drag Brand away.

The girls pouted after them, then one waved at Theon. "Later, Geezer." She smirked, and the two took off on their hover.

Theon humphed, and turned to leave as well. Then his eyes widened, and he began to run after the two-hover. "Thieves! My Gil! THIEVES!"

Alex, meanwhile, was desperately dragging Brand away, muttering, "Crazy damned groups…"

Brand merely blinked once more.

~*~ Elsewhere ~*~

"Question."

"Yeah?"

"How are four of us going to fit into one little boat meant for three people tops?"

Rynna blinked at that, looking at Tidus sheepishly. "Gee, I didn't think of that," she said thoughtfully. "Guess you'll have to swim."

"What?! Hey, I might be a star blitzer, but I am NOT going to swim all the way to Kilika!"

"I was kidding! Jeez." She turned to Darian. "What do you think?"

The redhead looked over the boat for a moment, then back at the group. "Well… according to Tidus, we're a lot farther north than we should be… But if we stay on track and don't get hit by any fiends, then we should make it to Kilika by nightfall."

"So…?"

"So, I think we'll have to get rid of some of our stuff to accommodate our new passenger."

Amie coughed lightly. "Perhaps… I could caste Haste again, to aid us?"

"Good idea, Ames," Rynna said. The other girl blushed slightly and smiled. "Okay, then let's think about stuff we need."

"Water pills," Darian said.

"Duh."

"You said to think about it."

"I meant obvious stuff."

"Um, guys?" Tidus asked. "Can we move on?" He paused then. "Well, I don't have anything besides myself and my clothes, and I'm sure as heck not going to strip," he said with a laugh. 

Rynna gave him an odd look. "Please, don't. I don't need to row into Kilika with my grandfather nude."

He gave her a pained expression. "Just call me Tidus, will you? This whole grandfather thing… seriously, I didn't have a clue…"

"Yeah, yeah. As do we all." Rynna waved a hand. "Anyway, we'll probably also need _our _clothes, and the weapons are a must."

"We could drop half of the food we have," Darian offered. "It's enough for about a week right now- if we use some of it for bait for fiends here, they'll be more interested in eating the food than killing us."

"Not bad, Dar." Rynna nodded. "That'll take off a couple pounds…"

In the end, the group discarded most of their healing goods (as Amie had White Magic), half of the food, two blankets, and one empty pack. It didn't seem like much, but suddenly their little boat seemed a lot emptier.

"Okay, let's get going!" Rynna announced. "Who's rowing first?"

"How about Tidus and myself?" Darian suggested. "We can each take one paddle/oar/thing and row at the same time. We'll go faster that way."

Tidus shrugged. "Sure, whatever."

"Let's get in the boat now," Rynna said. "It's really time to be moving on."

"Right," the rest of the group agreed.

"To Kilika," Tidus murmured, passing a hand over his eyes absently. "I wonder what it's like now…"

Rynna smiled at him. "In a few hours, the gods willing, you'll find out!" she said. Then she cast a wry glance at Darian. "Assuming we don't get lost again."

"Hey, I heard that!"

With that, the group climbed- er, squeezed- into the boat, and set off for the Port, hoping for more answers instead of more questions.

~*~


	6. Chapter Six

****

Believe

Chapter Six- Catching Up

Where we left off: Zzzz…. Oh. Brand missed chapter five? Very well. Brand will take chapter six. (Solemn nod) Humans wonder why Ronso still speak simple human tongue? Ronso can't fit many human words in Ronso mouth. So Ronsos have Ronso accent. Last time, met with odd humans who need clothes and man with too many clothes and too much ego. (Another solemn nod) Brand hope we meet with Rynna and others soon…

~*~

"Finally," Rynna breathed. "I thought we'd never get here!"

Darian grunted, massaging one sore shoulder with an equally sore hand. "Hey, give us guys some credit," he said sourly. 

"Oh, Darian, you know we all love you," she said, patting him on the sore shoulder.

He winced.

She pulled away to look at Tidus, who had given up on rowing to stare, stunned, at the Kilika Port. "Well? How do you like the renovations? They've improved a bit, haven't they?" she joked.

"Hush," he said absently.

"Hush? _Hush?_ I-" Rynna was prevented from arguing with her ancestor thanks to Amie, who, with an apologetic expression, clamped her hand over the talkative girl's mouth. "Mph! Mph mph! _Mrph!"_

Tidus ignored the odd group he was with, allowing his full attention to be drawn to Kilika Port.

__

Oh yeah, it's changed, he thought.

Not that he ever saw Kilika intact- the one time he'd been there, he'd shown up with Yuna and the others immediately after Sin had attacked the village, leaving it in shambles.

__

Yuna… Wakka.. Lulu… 

He quickly shoved his memories aside, not wanting to deal with them for now. Instead, he tried to figure out what seemed so… bizarre… about Kilika.

Then it hit him.

"They're using machines?!" he said.

Darian gave him an odd look. "Well, duh," he said. "Almost instantly after you guys nailed Sin, people thought that machines were okay, and began to use them again."

"Whoa," Tidus marveled. 

Kilika had, indeed, expanded from its original size. Without Sin to destroy human progress, the people had slowly grown, both in technology and in population, until the port doubled in size, then doubled again. Now, it was a crowded mass of buildings and people, with ladders leading to higher levels and children screaming at each other as they played haphazardly about the boats. Some fishermen were attempting to catch their meals in a slightly quieter part of the port, but weren't having too much success as of yet. A group of young men and women, probably around thirteen or fourteen, were kicking around…

__

Blitzball?!

"Blitzball," he murmured.

"Yup. We're headed to Luca after this, just like Yuna did," Darian confirmed. "If we're lucky, we'll get to see a game or two before we leave. It's changed a bit since you left, though. There are a number of ways to play it now…"

The redhead soon discovered that his temporary audience was still too busy staring to listen to anyone, and sighed audibly. "Why do I bother…?"

Seeing as Darian was tired and Tidus was busy, the two girls took it upon themselves to row the last few hundred feet into port, where they landed on one of the poorer yet less crowded docks. Rynna managed to shake Tidus out of his reverie long enough to get him to tie the boat to the dock. Then they climbed out, and took their possessions with them. 

"Should we ask them to reserve it?" Darian asked, looking at the now-shabby fishing boat.

Rynna thought for a moment, then shrugged. "Let's notify someone that Besaid is short of a fishing boat," she suggested. "I'm sure, seeing as this is the pilgrimage and all, that they'll oblige us a little."

"Especially since it's a real one," Darian began, then was nudged sharply in the gut by Amie. "What?" he asked, turning to glare at her.

She looked at Rynna, who had paused with a flash of uneasiness crossing her face. 

"Oh." Suddenly, Darian felt like an idiot. "Um, never mind."

"Huh?" Tidus asked. He was ignored.

"How about we ask around for Al and Brand?" Darian continued.

"Al?" Rynna looked amused now. "First Alexander, then Alex, and now Al? What's next?"

"A, of course," Darian said, nudging her. "Come on, let's look for the others."

"Right." Then a sour expression passed over the young woman's features. "I don't have to change into Yuna's outfit, do I?" she asked.

"I don't think so," Amie said shyly. "Um, I think it was just for the first temple. From now on we can dress as we wish."

"Good. I hate that outfit, no offense to my ancestor." Rynna ran one hand against her leggings in open relief, as Amie self-consciously toyed with the hem of her shirt. "Let's get going. With any luck, we can head out to the temple and get this part over with soon."

Amie turned to give Tidus a small smile. "Is it so very different from when you visited last?" she asked softly.

He grinned at her, and waved one arm in the air. "Oh, very different. For one thing, I never got to see Kilika intact before. Y'see, Sin attacked just before we arrived, and Yuna had to perform a sending…" he trailed off as his memories grabbed hold of him for a moment. 

__

…The young woman paced out onto the water- yes, onto, and not into, _as Tidus had expected. The water held for her as solid ground would. She took a few more steps out, then paused before slowly raising her staff above her head. _

For a moment, Yuna wasn't Yuna anymore. She was the Lady Summoner, a pillar of impossible strength and determination. An inner glow seemed to shine through her being at that point. Tidus couldn't help but think it really was an inner light, and not a trick of the sunset's glow. 

Time slowed, and paused.

Then…

She began to sway, and someone… no, something.. Began to sing the Hymn of the Fayth as she started to dance.

The dance was beautiful, and fascinating. Yet, at the same time, it was so haunting… The glow intensified, and soon spread to the coffins of the deceased floating below her. With sad cries, small lights- pyreflies- floated out of the coffins, up out of the water, to swirl around Yuna as she was lifted upon her own platform of water.

All Tidus could really think was that it was so beautiful, but, at the same time, so horrifying…

"…Tidus? Tidus?"

The blonde blinked and shook his head, realizing that Rynna was waving her hand in his face. And, by the impatient look on her face, she had been doing so for some time. He put a smile on his face then, once again shoving his memories back and telling them firmly to shut up. "Sorry, fazed out."

"Yeah, we noticed. C'mon, we gotta find out if Alex and Brand got here or not. Hopefully they did…"

Tidus nodded, and the group moved away from the docks, towards the area where stands were up, with people calling their wares to each other.

~*~

"The lady summoner!" 

"Huh?" Alex rubbed his eyes, yawning, then looked around to see whom had made the outburst.

"The lady summoner has arrived from Besaid at last! Let's go see her!"

"Yes, yes! I heard this time the celebration's summoner is a direct descendant of High Summoner Yuna!"

"Really? Amazing!"

"Let's go!"

"Descendant of…" Alex blinked, then jumped up and grabbed his sword with one hand while trying to jam his feet into his shoes at the same time. "Brand-"

"Heard already," the Ronso replied. 

Alex jumped, and whirled around to see Brand already waiting at the door. "Oh," he said, feeling stupid.

"Hurry, make appearance now," Brand urged.

"I'm hurrying, I'm hurrying!" 

Alex scrambled to ready himself- i.e. a quick washing and relieving of himself, straightening out a few wrinkles in the clothes he'd slept in, and so on. Finally, he and Brand ran out the door to follow the crowd going out to meet the summoner.

__

If only they knew, he thought grimly, suddenly reminded of the horrific monster that had attacked Besaid. _I hope she'll be the one to break the news, and we won't have to…_

~*~

"What's the matter, Rynna?" Tidus asked.

"Huh?" She blinked out of her self-induced trance, looking over at where he stood with Darian and Amie. 

"You completely spaced out. Somethin' wrong?"

She shook her head and lowered her eyes. "No…" She paused. Then, "Yes," she admitted.

"Well, what?" Tidus asked.

"You remember how I told you on the boat, more about why this is a kind of celebration of the Eternal Calm and all?"

Slowly, he nodded.

"Well, we didn't tell you everything that's been happening, Gramps," she said softly. Ignoring his shouted protest that he didn't want to be called that, she continued, "Sin's here again. Or rather, it's a different kind of Sin, but it's a Sin all the same."

"What?!" Tidus asked. "But that's impossible! We defeated him, I mean we really did!"

"I know. This is a 'true spawn of Sin,'" Rynna said. "I'll explain later," she added quickly, before he could question her. "I've got to speak to the Mayor of Kilika and announce this, so everyone can start moving inland. I heard somewhere that you're less likely to be attacked if you don't hang out near too many big bodies of water."

"Don't be too sure," Tidus warned her. "The Sin we fought could randomly appear in a small pool of water, if he felt like it. And he did once, too."

"Really?" she paled slightly, then bit her lip as the Mayor, a man in red and dull golden robes appeared. "Dear God…"

"Rynna!"

"Huh?" The young summoner looked about, startled at the shout. Then, her eyes widened in shock, then delight. "Hey! Guys!"

Tidus blinked as he saw two people push through the crowd. One was a Ronso; that much was obvious. The blitzer guessed that this young Ronso was playing Kimahri's part, since no other Ronsos seemed to be appearing. What was also obvious was that this Ronso wasn't too much like Kimahri- he didn't speak to greet Rynna, but he did nod at her. He took his place beside her, though not in a protective stance like Kimahri would have. Instead, this Ronso rested lightly on his spear- which Tidus realized was largely decoration- and appeared faintly bored, though relieved he was back with the summoner he was supposed to be guarding. 

As for his companion…

Tidus' eyes widened in shock, as did the other young man.

"Hey!" they both cried in unison, startling not only their group, but the villagers as well. "You look like me!"

Rynna turned away from Brand, eyes twinkling in amusement. "Didn't I mention Alex was supposed to play your part? Tidus, this is Alex. Alex, this is Tidus."

"Um, hi," Tidus offered awkwardly.

"His part?" Alex asked blankly, ignoring Tidus' greeting. Hurt, Tidus crossed his arms and gave Alex a glare. "What do you mean, his part? And why does his name sound so famil…" 

"This is my great-grandfather, Grandfather Tidus," Rynna said, now openly grinning. "Doesn't look like he's aged a day since seventeen, eh?"

"Will you _stop _calling me that?" Tidus demanded. 

"Sorry, Pops."

"Hey-!"

Alex's eyes widened until they were round as saucers. "No friggin' way."

"Way," Darian informed him. "He proved it, too. He's the real deal. Cool, huh?"

"Cool? Cool?! I-"

"Talk later," Rynna instructed as the Mayor came into earshot. "We'll explain on the way to the temple."

Alex frowned again, but did as he was told, crossing his arms and pouting. Tidus sighed and found himself thanking whatever deity was currently watching over him. At least he wouldn't be questioned this time.

Yet.

~*~

Rynna went through the ceremonial lines first, introducing herself as Lady Summoner Yuna, and introducing her guardians. She explained Tidus and Alex away as brothers who couldn't decide who could take the part. Alex chimed in, claiming he was the 'stunt double', and everyone chuckled, recalling the use of such doubles in moving picture spheres. 

Finally, with all the ceremony out of the way, Rynna dropped the formalities. "We've got something serious to report to you, sir," she said urgently. "And everyone must know about it now."

The Mayor, catching her tone, hurriedly returned his attention to her. "Yes, milady?"

"A giant fiend who greatly resembled the old evil, Sin, attacked Besaid Island the other day, during my ceremony," she said. "During said ceremony, Besaid was nearly destroyed, and I… well, I attained a true-to-the-gods Aeon."

A stunned silence fell on the crowd, until one man in the back yelled, "What a crock! Pull the other one, Summoner!"

"It's true!" Darian said. He shot a glare at the man that was so venomous that the man in question meekly slipped away from the crowd. "She can call Valefor, anytime, anywhere."

"With all due respect, this is something I must see with my own eyes," the Mayor informed them dubiously.

"I expected that," Rynna said, with a small, sad smile. "Please, everyone step back. I need a little room for him to land."

Tidus blinked. "Him? Wasn't Valefor a girl way back when?"

Rynna blinked back, pausing. "He was? He was obviously male to me."

"Maybe he got bored and had a sex change?" Alex suggested.

Everyone fell silent. Then, "Alex, shut up," the group chorused.

The blonde returned to pouting at everyone.

Rynna paused to make certain that no one else was going to interrupt. When no one did, she closed her eyes and held her arms out, growing as still as possible. _Valefor, _she whispered in her mind. _I have need of you._

: I heard,: came a somewhat amused reply. 

__

Will you come?

The voice within paused, then answered,: I_ shall. Prithee, make certain thou hast a large space about thee. I do not wish to harm thee, nor thy friends in mine landing.:_

Affirmative. We're ready when you are. Thanks. A pause. Then Rynna couldn't help asking as she took a step back and did the formal pose for summoning, _Were you really originally female?_

An embarrassed silence met her. Then, meekly,: _One _does_ change over the course of time._

Rynna raised an eyebrow at that- time changed people, but surely not _that _much!- but before she could reply, Valefor was already swooping down to meet the now-awed townspeople of Kilika Port.

~*~


	7. Chapter Seven

****

Believe

Chapter Seven- Attack!

Where we left off: 'Sup, this is Alex. So thankfully Ryn and the others got to Kilika safely. A day later'n we planned, but hey, can't complain. The weird thing is… whoa! Tidus? As in the Grand Lord Guardian Tidus? As in the dude who kicked Sin's ass? What the hell?! Anyway, Rynna's spilling the beans to the Mayor at Kilika 'bout "Sin's true spawn" and such. Hopefully now that Valefor's around he'll believe us!

…I _still_ think Valefor got bored and had a sex change…

~*~

Aaron, the Mayor of Kilika Port, was a simple man. As a simple man, he had rather simple needs, especially for someone who ended up being Mayor of a place as big as Kilika was. He liked food, a fact made obvious by the roundness of his belly. He also liked his house, which was big enough to hold at least sixty people comfortably. 

Finally, he liked things as normal as possible. He liked the hustle and bustle of the city, which was why he'd run for Mayor in it. 

But right now…

There was no hustle or bustle. The 'clans', or Guilds, weren't so much as glaring at each other. Merchants were silent, and even the infants seemed silent. 

And it was all because of the Ceremony of the Eternal Calm.

__

Only it's not an Eternal Calm anymore, a voice whispered to him in the depths of his mind.

He told himself to shut up and turned his attention to the grand creature that the Summoner- the _real _Summoner, Rynna- had called before them all today.

The creature- Aeon, he corrected himself- was easily three times his size, though obviously built for combat. In point of fact, it already seemed as though it had seen combat, by the areas where the feathers parted oh-so-slightly to reveal scars. 

Lady Rynna raised an eyebrow, and he turned his attention to her. "I take it that this is proof enough?" she asked. "You know that it is impossible to fake a summoning."

He nodded- that much he knew. Everyone in Spira knew, in fact. High Summoner Yuna had banished the Aeons immediately after the death of Sin, and it was impossible to call upon Aeons when the former fayth were naught but large, lifeless statues. "Indeed, but what are we to do about this… creature that seems to be Sin?"

"We must pray to Yevon again!" one of the older women in the background cried. A few others began to shout their agreement.

It was then that Theon appeared, with his usual pristine robes. "We will _not!"_ he thundered, momentarily silencing the crowd. "Have none of you heard of the stories of the past? It was _Yevon himself_ who was Sin!"

"Blasphemous! How dare you treat Spira's former religion so lightly?" the first woman screamed.

"You all are so stupid!" said an exasperated, much younger voice. Everyone turned to see a small group of Swipers, no less than ten of them, all on their two-hovers. "We don't need to pray to some god! We go inland, like our ancestors should have done in the first place!"

"Inland?" someone else demanded. 

"Yes, inland." The Swiper nodded. He, like the women in the group, was dressed barely enough to satisfy the most tolerant of people when it came to clothing and modesty. He wore a pair of leather breeches that were cut off right under the knee, and wore a belt where a dagger hung. The one interesting- and dangerous- thing about this young man was that he had daggers everywhere on his person- one in the top of his left boot, one around his waist, and one around his neck in a carefully-made sheath. 

"We go inland to the smallest bodies of water possible," he announced. "If we must live off of rainwater, then we will."

"What about those of us who can't travel?" demanded a middle-aged woman from the crowd. She knelt next to her husband, who sat in a mobile chair because he only had one leg. "What about them?"

"That's what the _chair _he's using is for," the Swiper said, exasperated. He waved a hand. "I would suggest you all move as quickly as you can. We're heading to the Barrens- all the rainwater we need, just not very many rivers or plant life. We can get all the food we need from Do'sal."

"Not a bad plan," someone else mused thoughtfully.

Theon raised an eyebrow at the Swiper. "Amazing. To see the Swipers using their minds… this is something I never expected to see."

The Swiper smirked. "You're not supposed to see it, oh almighty Geezer." He looked around. "Well, it's been fun acquiring your goods, everyone, but we must move on," he announced.

With that, he stepped up behind a female Swiper on one of the two-hovers. The girl giggled and revved up the two-hover. As one, the group turned and raced out of town. 

The Swipers did not once look back.

~*~

Rynna nodded, satisfied that at least one group was taking her word for it and looking for whatever safety they could get. _I just hope everyone else follows their example._

__

:Am I needed any longer?: Valefor questioned politely.

__

No, I don't think so. Thanks a lot, Valefor. We'll see you later.

The giant bird-Aeon pulled back, assuming a dignified pose. _:Indeed,: _was his reply. He looked then at Tidus, who stood watching him with an unreadable expression on his face. _:This one.. he is not supposed to be here.:_

He said that he was your dream. 

:Be that as it may, even the best or worst of dreams are meant to fade from even the best of memories. This one should not be here.. Unless…: Valefor grew silent.

__

Unless what?

:…Nothing.: Valefor watched Tidus for a moment, then bobbed his head at the young-looking man. 

Tidus, in return, blinked.

Then Valefor turned and flew off into the sky.

Her grandfather (many times removed) looked after him, his face a mixture of awe, recognition, and sadness.

"Tidus…" she murmured softly.

However, her attention was returned to the villagers when they broke into groups of chaos, racing here and there to get their belongings together. 

She sighed. _I know I would probably do the same in their position, but this is ridiculous! The fiends won't show up where there aren't any prey. And animals won't come in here to take over, either. Not with the human smell. _

"And this, ladies and gentlemen," Alex announced dramatically, "is the result of millennia of humans forming into the most intelligent species of the planet."

"I dunno, Alex," Darian said. "You seem to be a better specimen for observing the 'intelligence' of human life."

"Than- hey!"

The group shared a small laugh before Rynna looked at the people racing about. She sighed. "Should we try to stop them?"

"No," Tidus said.

Everyone looked at him.

"People are people. They'll calm down a little when they get moving. Besides, they'll only resent you if you try to help them with their lives." His face was once again expressionless.

Darian looked at the blonde. "I suppose… you know that by experience." It wasn't a question.

Tidus shrugged.

Rynna sighed. "Well, we're not getting anywhere by standing and making fun of the 'little people'. Let's get going to Kilika Temple. Maybe another Aeon will have awakened there." She glanced at Tidus.

He understood. "When I was with Yuna, the Aeon Ifrit was in Kilika. His element was fire."

"What's Valefor's element? Does every Aeon have an element?" Amie asked quietly.

Tidus gave her a small smile, but shook his head. "No. Valefor is a neutral. Only a few Aeons have elements. They're Ifrit, Shiva, Ixion…" he trailed off. "The others I remember are, um, Bahamut, the one that's supposed to be in those ruins at Baaj Temple, and one that's supposed to be in the hidden temple in the Calm Lands. Oh! And there's Yojimbo, but I wouldn't recommend him. He's a waste of gil, or at least he was."

"Gil?" Rynna blinked.

"He demands payment for his assistance." Tidus made a face. "I spent over two hundred thousand gil on that guy, and he lost almost every battle we used him for. And his dog-! Ugh."

Rynna couldn't help but laugh at that. "Okay, so I suppose your… Yo-jumbo?"

He laughed back. "No, Yo-JIM-bo," he corrected.

"Yeah, him. Well, guess we're not gonna use him."

"Please don't."

"All right then." Rynna turned to the others. "Let's head off to Kilika then, shall we?"

The others nodded.

~*~

"What was Lulu like?"

Tidus blinked in surprise, and looked around to see who was speaking to him. He then realized that Amie, the Lulu look-alike, was speaking to him. 

He turned to give her another small smile- she reminded him of Yuna, a little. Except Amie was a lot shyer than Yuna had ever been….Well, that was a thought to follow for another day. Shoving the thought of Yuna away, he said, "Lulu?"

She nodded.

"Well… she was quiet, though she had this… _presence_ that filled the room." At her questioning look downward he shook his head, waving his arms. "No, no! Not a physical presence!"

She had the grace to blush at that.

"No, she just had this immense amount of wisdom. No doubt if we hadn't had Auron along, well, she would have been our leader. In fact, Yuna thought of her as an older sister."

"Was she… um, nice?"

"Nice? The first thing she ever said to me was 'who are _you?' _And the first thing she said _about _me pretty much implied she thought I was an idiot, a liar, a criminal, or all three." Tidus smiled. "Though after a while she warmed up. She always had really good advice about things."

"…Oh." He looked at her again to see that Amie was smiling a bit ruefully. "We're given to believe that every one of them didn't have a single flaw. That they were all perfect. I didn't believe it, not really, but…"

"Not a single flaw?" Tidus shook his head. "Please. Wakka hated Al Bhed, Lulu threatened to cast Fire spells on anyone who _looked_ at her funny, Auron kept secrets, Kimahri had a bunch of rivals from his home, Rikku was impossibly hyper at all of the wrong times, Yuna would randomly laugh at nothing-"

He stopped. He couldn't help himself- the memory of his beloved returned, slamming itself into his mind and attaching itself like a… well, a parasite. Granted, Yuna could never be something so horrible.

But he couldn't stand the idea of them being dead, any of them…

__

Yuna looked at him oddly. "What's wrong?"

"Huh?" He blinked. "Um… nothing really…"

She smiled teasingly. "Want to scream?"

"I don't really think that'll help," he said, smiling faintly.

She looked away. "You know, it's embarrassing to say this myself, but Summoners are kind of like Spira's ray of light. So… when I'm feeling sad, I practice smiling, you know? I know it's hard, but…"

Tidus considered that. "Well…" He recalled losing blitzball games, but always putting on a cheerful face for his fans afterward. "I understand. I think…"

"Right. Now, let's see what you can do!"

Tidus sighed, looking up at the sky. "Let's see what you can do," he repeated to himself.

Amie blinked. "Huh?"

"Nothing," he said quickly. He was rewarded by a frown, which he decided to ignore. "Anyway, legends are always different than you'd expect. Like Wakka would probably cheerfully give the lot of us noogies while ranting about how much better at blitzball he is than us." He shrugged.

Amie chuckled. 

"Hey, guys! We're here!" Rynna called.

Tidus blinked. "That was fast," he commented. "Last time we had to fight about twenty fiends before we got even halfway there!"

"There was a cleaning of sorts after Sin disappeared," Darian said, falling into place beside Tidus. "Crusaders, having no other purpose, were directed to use their abilities to clean the planet of the remaining fiends."

"Makes sense. Would suck to have Sin die and then get killed by a little fiend."

"That, too, but the main thing was that bored humans start picking fights." Darian shrugged. "Bored Crusaders might have ended up fighting each other. So High Summoner Yuna told them all to kick ass against the fiends. They did, and up until now you only see about three or four a year."

"Wow…" Tidus shook his head. "We fought hundreds of them, wave after wave."

"It's so strange to hear you talk about this sort of thing," Darian said.

Tidus paused, and Darian did too. Amie watched them for a moment, then hurried forward to talk to Rynna at the foot of the temple.

"It's stranger for me, believe it," Tidus said softly. "I could have sworn that only twenty minutes passed between the time that I disappeared and when I met you all. I went from Zanarkand… to Spira… to future Spira… Where the hell am I going to end up next?" 

Darian shook his head. "I dunno."

The two probably would have continued along that line of thought had Rynna not called for them to hurry up.

"Let's go. Your granddaughter's being bitchy," Darian said.

Tidus smacked him upside the head.

"OW!"

"Just because you're her friend doesn't mean you can make fun of her." Tidus smirked at him, then hurried after the others.

"Bastard," Darian muttered. But he said it with a small grin, before hurrying after.

~*~

"Okay… um… how the hell are we supposed to go through here?"

Tidus shook his head at his granddaughter's question, dumbfounded. 

The temple was rundown. Very much so. Vines had managed to grow around the pillars supporting the ancient stones both within and without the building. It had been a struggle itself to get inside, as the doors had been sealed shut by the wildlife. 

But now…

Moss and grasses had been burned away entirely, once they had entered the Cloister of Trials. 

This was because the Cloister was filled with a living, never-ending flame.

Rynna turned to her grandfather after watching it run across the stones like a wave. "Well?"

"It's… different," he said slowly, considering. "Are there any gems about?"

Everyone looked blank.

"You know, spheres? Maybe a red, glowing one? If you see one nearby, maybe we can use it to get rid of some of the flames." Tidus wiped some sweat from his forehead.

Wordlessly, Amie offered him a Water pill. He took it, smiled in thanks, and popped it into his mouth. Now that he knew he was _not_ supposed to swallow it, but to suck on it, they worked wonderfully to ease the heat and his thirst.

"Red spheres…" Rynna nodded. "I remember mentions of those in Histories. Remember that class, Dar?" Then she grinned mischievously. "Oh, never mind. You were always asleep."

"Hey!" Darian protested. The rest of the group shared a chuckle, before returning to the problem of the Cloister.

Amie was the first to move, surprisingly, edging towards one wall that seemed to be a wall of flame that never moved.

"Be careful, Amie!" Alex said, alerting everyone else.

She waved away his worried exclamation, casting a Reflect spell on herself. Then, she reached out to the wall…

And the flame winked out, leaving the room half as bright, and half as hot, as before. 

"Huh?!" 

Amie walked over to them, holding out a sphere that seemed to be on fire. However, it didn't seem to touch her. "I know what to do," she said, pleased. "Here, wait a moment."

She held up a hand, casting Reflect on the rest of the group one by one. Then she offered the stone to Rynna, who touched it gingerly, as though she expected it to burn her anyway.

"We should be safe from the fire, or at least any fire that's cast from a spell. Real fire, I don't know for sure," she admitted, talking more to the floor than to the group.

"Hey, this is a good idea!" Tidus exclaimed. 

"So what, should we try to walk through the flames or something?" Rynna asked.

Darian lightly elbowed her. "Stupid summoner. Good thing we're here with you. No, we search for a spot that's not as hot as the rest of it, and pull out on it like Amie did. It should form into another sphere, and show us a way through."

"…Ooh… Hey!" She smacked him upside the head.

"OW!"

"Don't insult me!" Rynna turned back to the next wall of flame. "Okay, let's try this out."

~*~

About two hours later, the group stood before the Chamber of the Fayth.

"Okay, um… what did you do last time?" Darian asked.

Rynna moved to smack him. He hid behind Brand, who gave him a bemused expression. "I just do the ancient Yevon bow like last time!"

"Oh yeah," Darian said sheepishly.

"Are you sure you're not actually Wakka?" Tidus teased.

__

He got smacked by both girls in the group. "Ow! Hey!"

"Are humans done smacking each other?" Brand asked pointedly, shoving Darian away from himself. "Luck, Rynna."

"Thanks, Brand." She turned, smiled at the group, then went up to the door. She did the ancient Yevon bow.

This time, the door opened more quickly. Rynna quickly ducked under, and it closed behind her.

~*~

This Chamber was a bit different from the one where she met Valefor. For one thing, the walls were a bit cleaner (no doubt cleared of the debris by Ifrit's magic fire), and the theme colors were all warm- red, orange, and so on. 

But in the middle of the chamber, there was a giant sphere, where a glowing figure lay, seemingly trapped into the sphere.

"This must be Ifrit after all," Rynna said to herself. 

For a moment, she hesitated. What was she _doing? _Wandering around, summoning aeons like the people of the past. What right did she have to this? 

Or more importantly, _why was she the one chosen to do this?_

She shook her head. "Because you're Yuna's descendant, most likely," she muttered wryly aloud. "Well, let's get this over with as soon as possible. I'm getting hungry."

With that, she knelt before the glowing sphere and again did the bow. 

The song began, as it had in Valefor's Chamber. This time, however, the voice singing it was much deeper, maturer. Rynna listened to it with wonder- now that she knew what was to happen, she didn't have to spend time freaking out over it.

After a moment, a figure formed atop the sphere. Another male, by the looks of it, though he appeared to be older than Valefor had seemed to be.

This one looked at her gravely. "Who are you, to enter my chamber?" he said.

"I'm summoner Rynna. Well," she temporized, "I'm not a real summoner, but I'm the closest thing to it right now."

Ifrit blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

"Look, Sin's come back again, and I need help- we haven't trained any new summoners in over two centuries. I'm of Yuna's bloodline, if you recall her."

"And you would use me to defeat Sin?"

She nodded.

Ifrit paused, as though listening to something. "I sense…"

She waited.

"I sense another aeon already within you."

"Yes, my first aeon, Valefor."

"Hmm." Again, Ifrit paused. "I sense truth in you, Rynna, though I also sense that this was meant to be some sort of…. Ploy."

"Not a ploy, a celebration of when Sin was last defeated," Rynna said. 

"Ah. Well. You seem to be of good heart. Will you accept me?"

"Uh… Sure." Rynna blinked. "Aren't you supposed to accept me?"

"I did before, yet the feeling must be mutual or no bonding can take place. Brace yourself." 

With that, Ifrit lifted into the air, aimed at her, and hurtled into her body.

She gasped, her body going into a spasm of pain. Thankfully, it wasn't anywhere near as hurtful at the last time. However, it did still hurt, to feel another presence take residence in her mind and body. 

Mostly, in her mind.

__

:It is a pleasure to fight with thee again, Ifrit,: Valefor was saying formally. _:Though I would have preferred it if we could have had a longer rest.: _His tone was wry.

Ifrit seemed to pause. _:You are… different.:_

:Indeed, fire aeon. I… changed over the course of time.:

:You sure did.:

Uh, guys? Rynna thought. _Could you be a bit quieter? I'm trying to overcome my pain._

:Our apologies,: came the reply.

~*~

As the group headed back to Kilika Port before going on to Luca, Darian carried Rynna, and Tidus guarded their backs just in case a fiend appeared (or even a bandit). Rynna had been able to tell them that the prayers had been successful right before she had fainted.

Amie had cast Cure upon the unconscious girl, but it hadn't seemed to help much. She only stopped when Tidus explained that it was a pain in Rynna's mind, as well as her body. 

So the group let her be and trudged on.

However, their peace wasn't to last much longer.

Screams from the village alerted them that something was wrong. _Very _wrong, by the way the villagers were racing away from the village and down the path towards the temple in a panic.

Tidus managed to grab one of the people. "What's going on?" he demanded.

"Sin!" the man shrieked. He tore free of Tidus' grasp, ignoring the group's shouted demands, and raced on into the woods.

"Damn it," Darian swore. "Why does it seem to be following us?"

"We can't be the only ones that know, can we?" Amie asked quietly. "Or the only ones to stop it?"

No one knew the answer.

"Well, come on!" Tidus said, brandishing his sword. "Let's go get it!"

The group nodded. Darian gently tried to shake Rynna awake as they went along, but even the roughest shoves couldn't wake her. She remained in a deep sleep.

So, when the village (and Sin) came into sight, the group was forced to leave her a little ways behind, with a Reflect and a Protection spell on her in case she was attacked. Darian was to guard her.

"Okay!" Tidus shouted, and cast Hastega.

Amie blinked. "I didn't know you could cast white magic!" she exclaimed.

"It's a bit rusty," he admitted. "Can you cast protective stuff on us, too?"

She nodded, and began to do so.

Alex also pulled out a sword, while Brand prepared some black magic for an attack. Darian shouted at Rynna, trying to rouse her.

But all was stopped, when Sin reared back slightly, let out a howl…

….And sent a tidal wave crashing towards them.

"By the _powers!"_ Amie shrieked. "Run!"

Everyone turned to flee; Darian picked up Rynna, forgetting his blitzball, and Alex nearly dropped his sword-

But the wave crashed upon them all, sending them into oblivious darkness before they could even think of reaching safety.

As they disappeared, Sin gave another howl of triumph, and dived back into the water.

~*~

O.o What happened to them?! Don't worry, they're not all dead from the tidal wave. Remember Sin in the game? ^_^ Wonder what's going to happen next..

Whew! Long chapter! My fingers hurt. ;_;

Rynna- Wuss. 

(Smacks Rynna) Hush you! Please tune in next time, folks!


	8. Chapter Eight

****

Believe

Chapter Eight- Huh?

Where we left off- Ow, my head… this is Tidus. We just got back from my great-great- um… _Rynna _getting Ifrit to help us out, and Sin appeared. Whoa, bad memories man. At least it's not my dad this time. I mean, I _think _it's not my dad. I mean, he's dead. Then again, so was I… back to the group, we got sucked into the water! Where'll we end up?

~*~

"Ugh… ow…"

Tidus shook his head as he slowly came back to reality. At first, he thought he was in that dark nothingness again- where he hadn't been anything more than a figment of someone's imagination, only kept in existence by the barest of thoughts from Spira..

He shuddered from the memory as he realized that he was floating face up in some kind of water. And he wasn't surrounded by nothingness-

-he was directly under a big, black, storm cloud.

Tidus yelped in alarm and splashed his way out of the water before he could be struck by lightning. He climbed out and shook himself off, panting in the muggy atmosphere.

__

Now I know where I am- the Thunder Plains! What luck, he thought sarcastically. 

He looked around, trying to figure out how to get under cover, and found himself staring, his mouth wide open.

The lightning and storm part of the plains had obviously not changed in the past two hundred years, but the inhabitants of the plains sure had. A short distance away, he could make out the towers that had been broken down from too much use to prevent lightning from striking people. Now, they were surrounded by what looked like sturdy tents, which were lit from within with what seemed to be cheerful, welcoming, and _warm _glows.

__

I really need to get in there. Hope the owners are friendly.

The sky rumbled, making Tidus jump. He wasn't as nervous as Rikku had been, but he certainly didn't want to see how getting struck by lightning felt. Not again. Never again.

__

Tidus looked around, trying to figure out what could calm Rikku down. The girl was driving the rest of them nuts, after all, and one never wanted to see Auron go insane from anger- he'd learned that a long time ago. So he glanced up, from where they stood at the base of one of the towers, and started to move out when it didn't seem like he would be struck down anytime soon.

Rikku moaned at the sight of him leaving, jerking one hand out to grab him. He dodged it. "Tidus you'll be hit, don't do it!" she said worriedly.

Yuna held the girl back, watching Tidus with the same worried expression. "We should really keep in a group, you know," she said.

He grinned now, and waved his arms. "Oh, come on! Rikku, I'm standing out here with nothing to protect me-"

"I noticed!" she snapped.

"- and I'm not getting hit," he continued, waving his arms more. "Yoohoo! Lightning! I'm over here!" he yelled.

The sky rumbled in response.

"Um, brudda, ya might not wanna do that, ya?" Wakka questioned.

Lulu and Auron watched, mildly amused.

"See, I'm fine! C'mon Rikku, come out here!" 

The young girl hesitated.

"It's okay, really! I'm the least luckiest guy on the planet, and I'm not getting hit! You should be safe!" he said, only half-joking.

Rikku swallowed, and, with a fearful look up at the sky, started to inch towards him.

"That's right. See? Nothing's-"

The lightning decided to strike.

"…Wrong… Waaaah…" He shuddered at the feeling (which, by the way, wasn't in the least pleasant), and collapsed to the ground.

"Tidus!" Rikku and Yuna cried. Rikku shrank back into Wakka while Yuna ran forward, preparing a healing spell.

"You shouldn't do that!" Yuna scolded him as she healed him. "What if it had been strong enough to kill you?"

"… ….Ow," Tidus whimpered.

Yes, definitely a feeling best left alone. Tidus hurried towards the tents.

Before he could reach the cloth, it was flung open by none other than Rynna.

The girl's eyes widened in surprise and relief. "There you are! Get in here before you get struck and killed!" she said, pulling him by the arm into the warmth of the tent. He didn't protest.

Instead, he looked around. People were sitting around tiny fires, where food was cooking. Small cots and bedrolls were sitting in the corners of the tents, far away from the fires, but there apparently seemed to be electric lights hanging about. 

Rynna pulled him over to one of the cots, made him sit down, and handed him a towel. "Dar will be here in a second to give you some new clothes," she told him. "He saw us coming in. Get out of those before you get a cold or something."

"Out?" he protested weakly. The thought of undressing where there was very little privacy was more than mildly uncomfortable…

"Yes. Get undressed. It's not like you don't have something these people haven't seen before," she told him wryly. Then she turned around to sit at a nearby fire, pointedly ignoring him.

Tidus stared at the towel, then down at his soaked clothing, wondering what to do.

"Get out of those or I'll send Brand over there," Rynna called over her shoulder.

Tidus started, then obeyed, muttering something about rude granddaughters and treating elders more politely. This time, Rynna ignored him for real. Thankfully, so did the other people in the tents, so he managed to strip off the wet clothes and wrap himself in the big, warm towel with a minimum amount of embarrassment. 

And just in time, too- Darian, the redhead who claimed to be related to Wakka, appeared with a yellow T-shirt and what looked like blue jeans but had a much softer texture to them. "Here," the redhead said apologetically. "They don't have any extra shoes or anything- you'll have to live with those."

Tidus merely shrugged his thanks and slipped into the clothing as quickly as he had slipped into the towel. Though he was still a bit damp, and the clothes didn't quite fit, it was a lot better than being cold and soaked.

Darian sat beside him on the cot when Tidus was dressed, saying, "We were wondering where you were. Rynna called up on all of the Towers to ask if anyone saw you. Thankfully you found us here."

"Where's Amie and Alex?" Tidus asked, rubbing his hair with the towel.

"At another Tower, not far from here," Darian replied. "Come on, let's get something to eat."

Tidus followed Darian over to the tiny fire and sat down, looking around himself still. "When did this all happen?" he asked. "And how come there isn't any leakage?"

"This is the best cloth you'll ever find, from the area 'round Moonflow," Rynna said, overhearing him. "It's not really that warm, but it will keep you out of any weather- rain, snow… you know the drill."

"This happened about a century ago," an elderly woman nearby added. "You haven't been around here before, lad?"

Tidus opened his mouth to reply that he had- about two hundred years ago- but closed his mouth instead, shaking his head. 

"Ah. Well, a century ago, a man named Rolan discovered that real lightning is twice as effective for operating machines than mere magical lightning," the woman explained. "So, he set about fixing up the towers to make them work. Then he started to set up a small network of tents around the towers, where people could live off of the rainwater, and store the energy. That's how we get produce and the like, lad- from trading energy for food and the likes."

"Oh," Tidus said weakly.

"Tidus," Rynna said, catching his attention. Her expression was grave. "Do you know how or why this happened? Us showing up here, I mean."

Tidus looked at the food that was cooking on the fire with a sigh before answering. "Sin has connections to all bodies of water, as you probably know. However, not all bodies of water are connected, even underground. So Sin had- or has- some sort of ability to teleport, as long as it's to another body of water."

Rynna nodded. "Okay. That explains how you once all ended up in the Bikanel Island Desert…"

"Tidus? Sin?" The elderly woman looked from Tidus to Rynna. Then she laughed. "Oh, I see. The ceremony, right?"

"Only partially, ancient one," Rynna said hesitantly. "There is a monster out there now that's being called Sin."

"Eh?" The elderly woman frowned. "What are you talking about, dear?"

"Nothing," Tidus said quickly. "This is part of the old conversations in the story."

"Oh, well, carry on, lad. I won't be listening too hard." The woman stood up, and wandered over to the other side of the tent to talk to a younger woman. The younger woman was speaking to a man, and seemed reluctant to talk to said elderly woman, but did so anyway.

"Anyway," Tidus said. "When Sin was my father, he often used this transportation to get us to see something he wanted us to see, or do what he wanted us to do." He frowned then. 

Rynna reached out to pat him on the shoulder awkwardly. "I'm sure it's not your dad," she told him.

"Yeah. I would've felt him if it was," he answered. 

"Hmm." Rynna considered this. "Well, no matter what we do, the ceremony's shot to hell anyway. We ought to warn these people about Sin, and then head over to Do'sal to figure out what to do next."

"Right," Darian said.

Brand, who Tidus was just noticing, also nodded.

"Um…. Do'sal?" Tidus asked.

"Yeah. It's where this race of people called Guado live."

"Oh! Guadosalam!" Tidus exclaimed. "What's with the name change, though?"

"Well, not only Guado live there anymore," she said. "Humans began to move in after the defeat of Sin, nearly kicking all of the Guado out, and into the Barrens." At his questioning look, she sighed. "Where Macalania Woods once stood."

"You mean they're gone?"

She nodded. "They disappeared the same way you did, apparently, though they took a longer time."

"Oh." He turned away slightly, to look at the fire. 

"Look, I know this is all weird for you-" Rynna said, after a moment.

"You don't know the half of it," he said shortly, catching her by surprise. "Let's call the others and get out of here."

"Yes." Rynna nodded. "Perhaps we'll find our way in Do'sal. It's much more likely than finding it here, anyway. Not much other than lightning, rain, and tents."

"Hm." 

Rynna gave him a concerned look. Then she looked at Darian, who shrugged. Finally, she said, "I'll go call the others then." 

This time, Tidus didn't even bother making a sound.

~*~


	9. Chapter Nine

****

Believe

Chapter Nine- A City Greatly Changed

Notes- Okay, let's talk about how to address Rynna or Tidus. Tidus can't just be a great-grandfather to Rynna, and I'll show you why.

Say Yuna had her child when she was eighteen, roughly a year after Tidus disappeared. That's year one EC. Now, say that roughly every thirty years or so, there's a new kid born into the family. That means there are four or five children in Tidus' direct lineage until Rynna shows up. That means that… (counts) He's her great-great-great-grandfather. I think. At least. So please keep that in mind.

And YES, I did notice that Valefor is female in the game. That's why I said the aeon had a friggin' sex change in my story! Hey, come on, aeons should have a FEW quirks in their lives, considering that they have nothing to do but fight Sin in the name of the Moon or whatever. 

(Coughs) At any rate, please enjoy.

Where we left off- My turn again already? Yeesh. I'm busy being a summoner and all that, guys! Why can't you bother Ifrit or something? (Sigh) Anyway, somehow we ended up going from Kilika Island- i.e. perfectly on schedule- to being in the Thunder Plains, i.e. _not on schedule at all._ We're going to head to Do'sal- or what Tidus calls Guadosalam- to figure out what to do next. Hopefully we can do that, and keep my grandfather from going crazy.

Hey, lay off. He's been through a lot.

~*~

"White magic?" Tidus asked again, raising an eyebrow. "What's the point? Can't you just dodge it? Isn't that what the lightning towers are for?"

"The towers don't control lightning, Tidus," Alex said reasonably. "They just draw most of the lightning to them. Even updated as they are, there's a great chance of getting hit by lightning out there."

Tidus held his ground stubbornly. "Well, so what? Lightning doesn't kill; it'll just faze you."

"Maybe in your world," Darian said. "Not in this one." He glanced out at the storm with an unreadable expression before returning his gaze to the blonde. "Somehow the energy's been growing since Sin disappeared. A bunch of people living here are guessing that Sin actually drew on the power of the elements as well as the souls of those he killed to keep up his strength."

"An interesting theory indeed," Rynna mumbled.

"I just…" Amie began softly. "I don't want to have anyone hurt."

Tidus paused. Then he nodded. "Okay. It won't hurt. What're you gonna do?"

"While white magic might not work at its best against real energy, it'll definitely help us," Rynna said. "Amie's got two spells for us- Reflect or Shell."

"Okay…. What's the difference? Isn't Reflect strong enough?"

"Reflect will protect you from the entire lightning strike itself. You shouldn't take any damage… when it works. You see, it only works half the time."

Tidus blinked. "That's new. What about Shell?"

Amie spoke up again, looking out at the never-ending storm. "Shell will work no matter what happens, unless and until the caster of the spell uses Dispel upon you. However, you will receive half of the intended damage."

"Hmm." 

"I pick Shell," Rynna announced. "We can heal small burns, but I dunno about big ones."

Amie nodded, and cast the spell on her.

"Shell for me too," Alex said.

"I'll take Reflect," Darian said. "I have yet to be hit by lightning."

"Then it's more than likely you'll be hit now," Rynna said. She dodged a punch from her friend.

Brand shrugged. "Reflect."

"I'll take Shell," Tidus decided. 

Amie cast all of them, then cast Shell upon herself. 

Suddenly, Tidus said, "Wait! Why can't we use both?"

"It doesn't work that way," Amie explained. "If you try to cast both, they'll cancel each other out and be useless."

The blitzball player shook his head. "Weird. Magic sure has changed."

"It has been a while," Amie said gently. She began to reach out, as though she wanted to comfort him. Then she reddened and pulled back, looking back at the storm. "Well, uh, let's get going! We only have half the plains to cross, but the storm may worsen if we don't hurry." She ducked out.

Tidus blinked once more. _That was weird…_

Rynna nodded. "She's right. Let's get going."

"Sure," he said.

~*~

A sudden thought came to Tidus a while later, as they hurried from one Tower to the next towards Guado- er, Do'sal.

__

Why am I with these people?

That made him pause.

__

Granted, this is my offspring we're talking about here, but I've never known her before. And sure, the redhead's Wakka's kid, but… why should I care? Haven't I gone through enough?

"Tidus? You okay?" Darian called.

The blonde shook his head, then waved a hand for the others to continue. Darian nodded, and they took off towards the next Tower.

The thoughts continued.

__

I've been through hell and back multiple times. My world, my home, was nothing but a dream, with everything in it now completely nonexistent. Spira as I knew it with- with- dear gods, Yuna and everyone else- is gone, with my friends dead, because of Sin. Now.. now I'm back, and everyone's dead, and I'm here, and it's not fair. Why the hell do I have to put up with this again? Isn't killing that bastard once enough_?!_

He bit his lip, closing his eyes for a moment. _I shouldn't think this way. This is wrong._

But even then the thoughts persisted. _Don't I _deserve_ rest? Why didn't I just _die_ in that nothingness? At least I'd have a chance to be with people I know! Why couldn't my dad have a second chance? Where's Auron- he deserved a second chance _ten_ times more than me! _

Stop it, he told himself. _Complain and all that when you're out of this storm. Besides, what would Yuna and the others think if I just gave up and left my new companions to their fates?_

With that, he forced the thoughts as far back as he could, instead trying to think on other matters-

-matters such as trying not to be hit by lightning, protective spells or no.

~*~

"Finally!" Rynna moaned, dropping to her knees. "We're safe!"

Amie followed suit, though she leaned much more gracefully against a nearby wall instead of falling over. Darian shamelessly did a belly flop onto the cool ground, sighing loudly in relief. Alex started rubbing at tensed muscles, while Tidus searched his pockets for anything that might help them all relax a bit.

"Cannot stop," Brand said, coming up behind him. Like the others, the Ronso was soaked to the bone, and he too was exhausted from running that last leg into the entrance of Do'sal. However, he apparently had much better discipline. "Inn. That way."

Rynna groaned. "Why do you have to be right all the time?" she complained.

"Ronso naturally right. Always," he said with a straight face.

"Right," Alex said, rolling his shoulders back and forth. "Damn, I need a hot bath or something…"

"After being out in that weather? No thanks!" Darian said. "I'll take dry clothes and a warm bed."

Tidus nodded agreement.

Rynna forced herself to her feet, using a nearby wall to aid her. "Man, and to think we'll have to go through that again to get to Macalania!"

"What?! Why didn't we just go there?" Alex demanded.

"Because," she said reasonably. "We need to pick up the girl playing Rikku over in the Moonflow, and then we need to head back to Luca and find the guy acting as Auron."

"You know, if Auron hadn't been sent that time, he could still play his role," Tidus remarked absently.

The others stared at him.

"Just a thought," he said, and turned towards the tunnels. "Let's head to the inn, eh?"

With that, the group slowly stood and trudged towards the underground city of Do'sal.

The city had obviously changed greatly over the last two hundred years. The only building that still stood in the same place was the house that Seymour and his fathers had lived in; now it was mostly a tourist attraction and museum, with the inside renovated to match the needs of the tourists. 

The rest of it was vastly different, however. After the defeat of Sin, the Guado had nearly all been killed in a war against the Ronsos and humans for their leader's crimes. Some had fled to the Thunder Plains and the Barrens; others had created new hidden passageways in the city itself; some had taken refuge in Luca, where no battles were allowed except against fiends. 

Others, of course, had elected either to stand and fight, or stand and allow themselves to be killed.

However, the battle had eventually wound down to the point where both sides were too exhausted, mentally, physically, and emotionally to continue. Then, the Guado had crept back into the light, and had eventually been accepted back into the world. 

Now, the city was run by a council of Guado, though humans, Hypello, and even a few Ronsos could be found either visiting or living within the underground city of Do'sal.

Tidus seemed to be taking most of the changes in stride; the new eateries, the machina show being run where the old inn used to stand; miles upon miles of intertwining tunnels, and so on.

They found the inn about twenty minutes after wandering through the seemingly endless maze of tunnels and ledges. Said inn was run by a human with a very pale complexion and long, thin fingers. The nametag the human wore said, "Welcome to the Inn of Do'sal. My name is Grengan."

"You must be… the Summoner and her guardians?" he asked skeptically.

"Yes, actually," Rynna said. She forced a smile. "We're a bit early. Had some emergency business with an acquaintance in the Plains."

"Ah," he said. "Well, your reservations aren't until next month, I'm afraid." He looked a bit smug at that.

"What are we supposed to do then?" Rynna asked.

"Don't know, don't care."

"You'd better care, mister Grengan, or I'll call in the manager," Rynna threatened. Darian, who stood behind her, looked like he was ready to laugh.

"Would you?" The man said. He looked a little less smug.

"Indeed. We have reservations, and we'll take them or I'll complain to the entire city," Rynna said.

"Hmph. You know, Lady Yuna would have been a bit more polite," the man said, a little miffed as he scribbled something on a legal pad nearby.

"Maybe, but what about her guardians?" Tidus asked. "I can guarantee a Summoner's Guardians could be very persuasive if they wished."

"Whatever," was their answer.

But the group didn't care- they now had access to three bedrooms and the local baths, and were ready to relax and plan their next move.

~*~

The next day, the group sat around in a circle with Rynna pointing at a map. They sat on the floor of the room she and Amie had claimed the night before, and for good reason; the carpeting was soft enough to have been a quilt.

"Here's how I see it," Rynna says. "There's not much choice but to backtrack the way we were supposed to come. The guy playing Seymour's probably pissed off greatly that we're not showing up yet. Today I think we were supposed to meet him and Auron as well."

Nods came from all around the circle.

"So. We march all the way back to Luca, picking up our buddies, and then try to request an airship flight back to Macalania. I'm sure people will understand, especially with Sin being for real nowadays."

"Yeah," Darian agreed. "But what about while we're here?"

"Huh?" Tidus asked.

"Shouldn't we visit the Farplane?" Alex suggested. "Not just to visit and say hi to our family and old friends, but to get some advice, too?"

"Advice?" Tidus asked. "But the pyreflies only show our memories, don't they? Not the real-" he stopped when Rynna shook her head.

"When Sin disappeared, the Farplane seemed to wink out of existence for a while," she said. "Then, when it came back, we could see our families again. And I mean the real ones, not just our own memories. We can truly speak with the dead now."

Tidus swallowed. "So I… could speak to Yuna? And the others?" he asked quietly.

"Far as I know, yeah," Rynna said. 

"Oh," he managed, blinking rapidly as he swallowed again, this time much more audibly.

Rynna gently squeezed his shoulder. "Hey, I know it's going to be tough on you. If you don't want to go, you can wait outside," she said.

He shook his head. Then he said, "No. I have to realize they're…. That they're gone."

"Okay."

Darian scratched the back of his head, looking slightly embarrassed. "So. Um, should we go now, or later?"

"…" Amie only watched Tidus and Rynna, trying to gauge their enthusiasm for the idea.

Tidus said, "Now, before I freak out."

Rynna nodded, and the others did as well before they stood and headed out towards the Farplane.

~*~


End file.
